Each year parents are faced with the influx
of new toys coming into their homes for the
holidays. Conscious parents looking to find
toys that are safer and make less of an environmental impact sometimes don’t know
where to turn and become overwhelmed. It’s
true you can’t control every toy that enters
your home, but you can use these tips for
your own toy shopping… and perhaps pass
the information along to relatives who might
be asking what to get the kids.
Why Should It Matter?
Unfortunately there are risks sometimes with
toys that people don’t consider. Toys like
costume jewelry for kids or cheap toy cars,
can be laced with lead, cadmium, arsenic,
mercury and other dangerous metals that are
harmful to their health while they grow and
develop. Kids are much more vulnerable to
the effects of chemical exposure at this stage
of their life.
In February of 2009, the Consumer Product
Safety Improvement Act adopted the ASTM
F973-07 levels for antimony, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, lead, chromium standard,
which limits levels of those chemicals in toys.
This may have passed. but that doesn’t mean
that all toys are safe. The act didn’t incorporate the inclusion of Bisphenol-A or PVC, so
we still need to be conscious when we shop.
Why are these chemicals in toys? Plastics,
fabrics and paints can contain a variety of
substances in order to make them durable,
flexible, or flame resistant. Sometimes it’s the
byproduct of manufacturing process which
can also be a great hazard to the people creating the products as well as disposal into the
environment.
How Do I Find Safer Toys?
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