How do I know which baby toys I should buy so I don’t poison my child with lead?
I wanted to buy my newborn some toys recently but notice that all baby toys are made in china. As we all know there was a scare with increased lead levels in baby toys from china a couple years ago. How do I find out which toys have lead levels so I can avoid buying them? I haven’t found a good user-friendly website for this yet. Also any hints for alternative toys not made in china? Seems like there are none.
!!!! WAIT !!!!! ANSWER #1 IS 100% INCORRECT !!!
He states
"Stick with wooden or cloth/plush toys for a baby – that’s one option. "
The wooden toys from China are the ones that are painted and have the biggest chance of having lead based paint (LBP). Cloth/plush items will (can) collect lead dust from floors. And then pass it to the kids if they are not cleaned / washed often.
There was a web site for recalled toys but I can’t find it right now. But even this site may not list all the toys effected with lead. Its a good start but I would test each wooden OR PLASTIC toy I bought. There can be lead in plastic or vinyl.
edit: found the web site… http://www.babycenter.com
The easiest way to test is with a product call "Lead Check". They are small white tubes that deliver a chemical (sodium rodizinate) to the surface. If there is leach-able lead it will turn color (pink or red). Call around to your local paint stores to find them. There are many types of these chemical test kits but my opinion is Lead Check is the best / easiest.
HINT: They cost about $3.00 each BUT !!! (Lead Check hates me to teach this) … There are 5 to 7 drops in each tube. If you use a clean dry cotton swab on each item, you can get 5 to 7 tests.
(no I don’t work for or own stock in this co.) …
For more info plese read http://home.mindspring.com/~wrltc/lswp.pdf A book I wrote for parents doing re-modeling or having it done. And lead issues in general. It was paid for by a fed/state grant. Which means its your book as much as mine. I am NOT trying to sell you anything. Education about this subject is my job.