Friday, November 21, 2008
Consumer Product Safety Commission
I am adding a link for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. This link advises parents of recalls on toys or products used by children that have been recalled due to safety issues. A parent can subscribe to this link and receive email notification of any safety issues concerning childrens products. This link will help guide you as you are shopping for gifts this season.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
The amount of dangerous chemicals in toys is pretty scary for a parent. I worry a lot about the lead and other substances in toys. You really don't know what's in the toy until it actually gets recalled.
My 15-month old is constantly putting toys in her mouth. Since she has an older sister, sometimes she get a hold of something she shouldn't. Sigh - just last week I caught her with a fairy princess wand in her mouth and she had licked the paint off the end.
Can you provide some practical advice on what a parent should do?
This is Dr. Dorbad:
Responding to the increasing reports of lead paint in toys is frustrating for parents and pediatricians alike. From a public health perspective, it's good that dangerous toys are being recalled, but it does add to the concern over all toys.
As you've already noticed, children under 2 years-old are at the highest risk for ingesting paint from toys because of their natural desire to put everything in their mouths.
There's no perfect method, but a healthy dose of awareness goes a long way. Toys that are wooden and painted are easily chewed and should be a primary focus. Many toys are plastic and do not contain paint. These are likely to be safer for children under 2.
At Renaissance, we test children at ages 1 and 2 if they are considered high-risk. We have a questionnaire that is done at these visits. We will test any child in whom there is concern for lead exposure. The incidence of lead poisoning goes down dramatically as a child approaches school age.
It might be of some relief for you to know that the incidence of elevated lead levels at Renaissance is low. However, there are several high risk zip codes in the city of Portsmouth and Norfolk. There are also a few in Suffolk and Chesapeake, but the rate of lead poisoning is much lower. For more information specific to Virginia, you may want to check out:
http://www.vahealth.org/leadsafe/
Post a Comment