Barbara Correa writes about work and family for the Los Angeles Daily News.
Toy makers, including El-Segundo-based Mattel, have hired new Washington lobbyists to help educate lawmakers about the industry; critics say the move is an attempt to hold off any serious reform in consumer product safety of the toys. Here's Lisa Friedman's full story in today's DN.
The World Against Toys Causing Harm, a nonprofit group, had a lot to choose from in compiling its annual list of top ten worst toys this year. Top honors for worst toy of 2007 goes to: Fisher Price's Go Diego Go Animal Rescue Boat, which is covered with lead paint. The toy was recalled in October.
Another cool-looking plaything is considered so dangerous that it has earned its own alert category and isn't even on the list. Made by Spin Master, it's a craft kit called Aqua Dots pet pals that contains toxic beads. At least two reports have been filed with safety authorities of children swallowing the beads and "slipping into a comotose state.''
Here's the list; for a full description of the worst toys, see the W.A.T.C.H. web site.
GO DIEGO GO ANIMAL RESCUE BOAT
STICKY STONES
JACK SPARROW’S SPINNING DAGGER
DORA THE EXPLORER LAMP
LIL “GIDDY UP” HORSE - SASSY PET SAKS
SPIDER MAN 3 NEW GOBLIN SWORD
HIP HOPPA
B’LOONIES PARTY PACK
MY LITTLE BABY BORN
RUBBER BAND SHOOTER
Mattel issued a new recall today, but this time it can't be blamed on Chinese subcontractors. 155,000 Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Learning Kitchen toys made in Mexico were called back because parts of the faucet and clock hands can come off and choke little children.
Hmmm. Well what toys don't pose a choking hazard when ingested by younger toddlers and infants? Anyway, the interesting thing about this one is that it isn't about China or lead. In fact, a BBC article says that while Mattel recalled more than 21 million Chinese-made toys, it later said that 85 percent of the recall was due to its own design faults.
What I want to know is, what are parents going to about playing Santa this holiday season? I know my shopping habits have changed dramatically since last year. Instead of going cheap at Ross, I've been buying my Christmas presents online, spending more on nicer stuff but buying less.
What about you? I'd love to hear what other folks are planning to do.
This is circulating around the Web. Pretty much speaks for itself!
Everybody's talking about drugs today. Under pressure from the FDA, Johnson & Johnson and Wyeth today announced recalls of cough and cold medicines for kids under two citing safety concerns. The safety of these medications has been under scrutiny for a few years. As a parent, I'm obviously happy that possibly dangerous drugs are being looked at.
But what excites me even more is that all this attention might unveil the truth about these medicines, which took me three years of motherhood to figure out: whatever you think about the safety of chemicals like dextromethorphan -- the main ingredient in Robitussin and other syrups -- THEY DON'T WORK. At least they never did much for my kids.
When daughter number 1, the one that can't handle being sick, had a cough, she was determined to be miserable -- and force me to miserable with her -- all night long, cough syrup or none. The syrups seemed to have no effect on her whatsoever. Once I made the mistake of giving her one of the antihistamines in a Robitussin or Pediacare (I blessedly can't remember which). She was bouncing off the walls until dawn.
The only thing that has ever helped my little Tazmanian devil is Benadryl. The stuff seems to help her drift off and stay that way without the hyperactive side effect of those horrible antihistamines. I'm glad I finally learned my lesson and I only stock B and tylenol for headache now. I just wish this nugget of knowledge had come with my baby instruction manual.
This is becoming a weekly event. The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced today the recall of another half a million toys made in China over lead concerns. The banned toys include textured Baby Einstein blocks, KB Toys wooden pull-along alphabet blocks and aluminum water bottles from Sports Authority! Also on the list: a bunch of toys from Dollar General Merchandising (in some cases, you do get what you pay for).
On the brighter side, the CPSC says lead poisoning takes time and is cumulative. That's cold comfort when half the closet has been recalled.
Hundreds of thousands more toys were recalled today in seven separate announcements from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, all related to lead paint. The new recalls include: Thomas and Friends wooden railway and Knights of the Sword toys made by RC2, Guidecraft puppet theaters and kids gardening tools sold at Target and Jo-Ann craft stores.
I bought some of these adorable little pink and green gardening rakes from Target months ago. I'm not crazy about the idea that they are covered with lead paint, but my kids barely touch them and it's hard to believe they could do any harm. It almost sounds easier to throw them out than haul them back to Target.
Here's a list of U.S.-made toys we ran when the recall story first broke:
NONPLASTIC TOYS
www.novanatural.com naturalplay.com/
www.peapods.com/
www.seasonsnaturaltoys.com/
AMERICAN-MADE TOYS
www.ShopForAmerica.com
www.ZebulonUSA.com
www.usmadetoys.com
www.unclegoosetoys.com
www.holgatetoy.com
www.maplelandmark.com
So, I got a bit more information that gives me some confidence that there's no need to panic every time Mattel, or the California Public Health Department, issues a new recall. I spoke to the department this morning, and they said some bad lunch bags were almost certainly distributed at some LAUSD schools given the size of the district. And the lead levels in those bags was pretty high.
On the other hand, I spoke to The Tin Box Co., which makes Disney's lunch boxes and supplies Walmart and Target. Lloyd Roth, president of the company, says his ink from China and Japan has always been tested, and the stores that buy this stuff also test them, and the lead levels are way below U.S. government standards.
He also said that since Mattel started making all this noise about possible problems with lead, Tin Box has added yet another layer of testing to its own process: during the last month or so, the company, based in Farmingdale, New York, has been sending out samples of its finished products to a lab in Manhattan before they go to market for one more independent test, and he's been happy with the results.
"We send it to a lab and they scrape [the ink] off,'' he said. "We don’t want people to feel uncomfortable.''
Since the company has been making tins with cookies or candy or some other kind of food inside for 50 years, it has always done a lot of testing -- its part of the way they do business. So go right ahead -- pack the kid's lunch in a Tin Box Co. lunch box. I'd hold off on anything government issued, though.
I am not prone to paranoia when it comes to recalls. When Mattel started announcing it was calling in toys with lead, I did not immediately go through my kids closets. But today's news that something like 56,000 lunch bags tainted with lead are being recalled really hits us Moms in the gut. This time, it's not just about keeping plastics out of the mouths of toddlers. The idea that a wholesome sandwich I take the time to fix could sit in my daughter's lunch box all day and absorb lead makes me sick.
The lead bags were passed out at school health fairs in California as part of an effort to promote healthy eating. They are blue and green canvas bags with logos that say: EAT FRUITS & VEGETABLES AND BE ACTIVE in English and Spanish.
Let me get personal. My husband returned from Toronto last week toting two adorable Disney Princess lunch boxes, which he paid an arm and leg for due to the weakness of the dollar against Canadian currency. My daughters LOVE them and have started taking them to school. The boxes, made in China by The TIn Box Co., came with little stickers on the bottom saying "Lead-free tested.''
But now I'm highly suspicious. Even if they claim they've been tested, how do you know? I have a call in to the TIn Box Co., and I'll update what I find out. The point is, these recalled bags look the same as most canvas lunch bags I've seen. So I'd say it's highly likely that most of these bags contain some lead.
I think I'm going to go back to my brown bags. The kids can use the lunch boxes for play. I guess the lesson here is you've got to choose what to get worried about. I mean, Croc-style sandals may get stuck in escalators, but at least they don't contain lead (at least that we know of). And what about the toxic soup of smog we all breathe in, living in the 310, 909 and 818?