All your kids want for Christmas this year is a non-toxic and safe toy. It seems like a simple request that Santa* should be able to fulfill. Unfortunately, with toys being recalled regularly for lead paint contamination and other potential hazards, Santa’s job seems a little tougher than usual this season.
Potential Dangers:
Who, What, and When of Recalls
The U.S. Consumer Protection Safety Commission (’CPSC’) is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks and serious injury or death from more than 15,000 types of consumer products. According to the CPSC, it is an independent federal regulatory agency that develops voluntary standards with industry, issues and enforces mandatory standards, obtains the recall of products or arranges for repairs, conducts research on potential product hazards, informs and educates consumers. Surprisingly, CPSC does no independent testing of toys and has no legal authority to do so. However, CPSC states that responsible companies test their products before putting them on the market. Unfortunately, it is often after injuries have been reported that toy recalls are issued, and most recalls are voluntary.
Most recently, lead paint in children’s toys has resulted in numerous recalls of popular toys. Young children are constantly mouthing toys. Lead paint when ingested by children can result in an accumulation of lead in the body. Lead poisoning in children is associated with behavior problems and learning disabilities, and can even lead to brain and nervous system damage, slowed growth and hearing problems.
Chemicals in Plastics
Although not listed by the CPSC in recalls, children’s exposure to certain plastic toys can be a potential danger. From toys to sippy cups, children are exposed to huge amounts of plastic in their lives. The most widely used plastic (used in toys, household goods, food storage container and water bottles, among others), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), can pose dangers to your children’s health in a variety of ways. First, during the manufacture and burning of PVC, dioxin, a known human carcinogen, is released. Second, during initial use of PVC products, phthalates, chemicals that have been linked to reproductive birth defects and other illnesses in animal studies, can off-gas causing the “new car” or “new shower curtain smell.” Third, during the everyday use of PVC products, phthalates can leach into foods and even our children’s mouths. Real Mama discusses the danger of chemicals in plastics in more detail in our article Plastics and Children: Friend or Foe.
Toys for Santa’s List
In order to protect your child from potential exposure to toys painted with lead paint, Santa may want to:
- Buy toys from local vendors who know where the toys were made and under what circumstances. Toys made in the USA need to comply with laws protecting health and the environment which are usually stricter than those abroad (although many European countries also have strict protective standards).
- Buy alternative materials that are not painted, such as cloth toys or unpainted wooden toys.
In order to protect your child from potential exposure to phthalates in PVC-containing toys, Santa may want to:
- Purchase toys made with natural materials, including textiles and wood.
- As an alternative to soft PVC toys, purchase non-PVC plastic products such as those made from natural rubber (latex) or polypropylene / polyethylene.
Santa may also want to browse the Real Mama’s First Annual Holiday Gift List: Kid and Earth Friendly, Non-Toxic Toys, appearing in our Holiday 2007 Issue.
Toys Santa Should Leave at the North Pole
Certainly there is no comprehensive list of toys to avoid but the best place to start is those toys listed by the CPSC at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/category/toy.html. In particular, there have been some well publicized recalls this summer and fall listing a number of popular brand-name toys, including the August 1, 2007 voluntary recall by Fisher-Price of Licensed Character Toys and the September 4, 2007 voluntary recall by Mattel of Various Barbie Accessory toys due to violations of the lead paint standard.
In addition, Santa may want to avoid those toys on the “10 Worst Toys” list put out by World Against Toys Causing Harm (“WATCH”), a non-profit consumer protection organization. Toys on the 2007 WATCH list and the companies that make them include:
- Go Diego Go Animal Rescue boat, by Fisher Price (contains lead paint).
- Sticky Stones, GeoCentral (ingestion could cause serious infections).
- Jack Sparrow’s Spinning Dagger, Zizzle (eye hazard).
- Dora the Explorer Lamp, Funhouse (electric shocks and burns).
- Lil “Giddy Up“ Horse — Sassy Pet Saks, Douglas (choking hazard).
- Spider Man 3 New Goblin Sword, Hasbro (rigid plastic could cause injuries).
- Hip Hoppa, Spin Master & Vivid Imaginations (head and other injuries).
- B’Loonies Party Park, Ja-Ru, Inc. (chemical ingestion).
- My Little Baby Born, Entertainment Inc & Zapf Creations (choking hazard).
- Rubber Band Shooter, Simple Toys LLC (eye hazard).
This holiday season, focus on safety, the environment, and health concerns when helping your child write his wish list to Santa. And remember, there are countless fun-filled alternatives to toys, such as outdoor play, books, crafts, and quality time with family and friends.
Information used in this article was found at the following sources, which you can visit if you want to find out more about this topic:
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/category/toy.html (CPSC chronological toy hazard recall list)
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07257.html (CPSC August 1, 2007 notice of Fisher-Price Recalls Licensed Character Toys Due To Lead Poisoning Hazard)
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07301.html (CPSC September 4, 2007 notice of Mattel Recalls Various BarbieÆ Accessory Toys Due to Violation of Lead Paint Standard)
http://www.toysafety.org (World Against Toys Causing Harm, Inc. (WATCH) is a Massachusetts charitable non-profit founded to protect child safety and advocate for consumers)
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/071113/ma_hazardous_toys.html?.v=1 (Associate Press article “Toy Safety Advocates Release Annual List of Hazardous Toys”)
* The use of the term Santa or other religious mention in this e-newsletter is used only for illustrative and creative purposes and is not intended as an endorsement or rejection of religious beliefs.
