Green Mom: Product Safety

I am always looking for non-plastic, non-toxic toys for my son so when I discovered Melissa and Doug toys I was pretty happy. I didn’t have to go to a boutique or shop exclusively online, I could find the toys in mainstream stores. I figured it was a brand that I didn’t have to research every time we received a gift or treated him to a new puzzle because according to their safety statement and other information I’d read, I figured their brand was totally safe. For the most part that is true, but lead is not the only chemical we have to worry about. Some Melissa and Doug toys have been recalled (in Canada only) for containing barium which causes gastro-intestinal distress when ingested. They also have some toys that contain lead and PVC; things you wouldn’t think of like stuffed animals. A great resource that I’ve discovered for finding out which toys are risky and which toys aren’t is HealthyToys.org. Here, you can search toys by brand or by type and you can even e-mail them to test a toy that you have that isn’t on the list. I’ve found that this is the easiest site to search with information that is easy to understand. Hopefully it will take some of the guess work out of toy safety.

On another toy safety note, there is a movement among crafters and people that support them to amend the law that will go into effect in February 2009. This law, that requires that every children’s product be tested by a third party tester, will cause several independent businesses and crafters to close their doors. People who make wooden trucks, cloth diapers, or dolls will be forced to have each one of their products tested which will cost thousands of additional dollars. While we want our children’s products to be safe, the products in question have never contained harmful chemicals. Some people feel these businesses should be exempt. To learn more and to support this cause, please visit the Handmade Toy Alliance.