Wooden toys, Steiner toys, Educational Toys, European Toys

Lead paint in Children's Toys

October 2007

It has been incredibly disturbing these last few months to open up the paper day after day and read about more toys recalled because of the lead paint scare. Honeybee Toys has always been aware of the fraught conditions of Chinese manufacturing, it is not only our own children that risk being exposed to lead, but also the workers in the factories and the children and families living in the communities around the factories.

If you conduct some of your own research, or even speak to people who have visited these parts of China, you will find out about whole communities who have contaminated water supplies, and large tracts of the environment that have been turned into virtual deserts. It is an environmental and social disaster. As consumers it is now in our hands as to how we respond to this crisis. Do we continue to "consume" and therefore create a market for these products and the consequences they bring, or do we change our living patterns and seek out a more natural and ethical alternative?

This is what Honeybee Toys is all about - respecting all people, all workers, all children, our health and the environment. It is for that reason that we specialise in toys made in Europe - we know standards of European Toys are extremely high, and that all natural paints and finishes are used. We also know that the people making them get paid a good wage, and that environmentally sound principles are used. Please, please make sure you do your research when you are buying toys for your children - and ASK QUESTIONS.

I know of at least two sites in Australia alone that are selling cheap Chinese imports as toys made from "organic" wood and claiming they are made in Australia, when they are only designed here, but manufactured in China. What does that phrase even mean "organic wood"? There are also many toys that will say "European Toy" when they are only designed in Europe but made in China. In some cases, this might be fine, not all Chinese manufacturing is bad, but please become aware of what you are buying.

Honeybee Toys does in fact sell some toys that are made in China, but we will openly display that this is the case, so that you the consumer can make a decision. We ask all our suppliers what the factory conditions are like and where the raw timber comes from, but we are also aware that we have to continue to ask questions and to get real answers. Our Sarah's Silk's products for instance are made in China. Sarah's Silks take great care in ensuring that their silk products are produced by women working in their homes so they can be with their children while earning a decent wage. You can see more information about this process, including photos of the silks being made by visiting the Sarah's Silk website.

People all over the world are concerned about these issues, the article below was discovered on a US blog when I was researching about lead contaminated paints in toys. We were given kind permission to reprint it here. You may like to visit Susie J's blog there are some interesting reviews of children's products and books. www.susiej.com

More toy recalls coming from lead paint found in toys

by SusieJ, 14th September 2007

Toy buyers beware; not all of the lead-based toys have been caught yet. The WSJ reports “that nearly 80% of toys are manufactured in China. And Chinese manufacturers repeatedly revert to lead paint regardless of the rules because it is cheap and helps factories meet relentless pressure to maintain costs. And, not to scare you or anything, but the article (Toy Recall Adds to Chinese Import Fears) went on to state that many toys from China that do contain lead paint pass inspection, because the Chinese companies are getting good at “fooling the system.”

Mattel won’t name the name of the Chinese manufacturing company that made the Mattel lead-based toys, the WSJ, Aug 3, 2007 reported. And Mattel knows they are making toys for other companies. Mr. Walter (a Mattel senior vice president) says, in a quote from the WSJ, “If products from the factory have been sold to other companies (toy makers) it would be the responsibility of the factory owner, not Mattel, to alert them.”

Thanks, Mr. Walter. Thanks for putting children first there. So, we can expect more toy recalls — but not until they get caught.

Mattel is not as quick as the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) would like them to be when it comes to children’s safety. Mattel believes they have a “right” to evaluate hazards internally, on their own time table, before alerting any outsiders, regardless of what the law says, Mattel Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Eckert said in an interview in the WSJ, Sept. 4, 2007. (Mattel Bucks Regulators on Timely Reporting of Potential Safety Defects.) The CPSC demands a 24-hour time table, but Mattel has repeatedly stretched those critical 24 hours into months and years.

Here’s an example of how Mattel’s timetable works, according to the WSJ:

The screws used in its Little People Animal Sounds Farm punctured the lung of a 14-month-old baby who had inhaled it. The child required emergency surgery. It was not until March 2003 that the company reported the safety hazard to the commission, an agency investigation concluded. The government discovered that Mattel had collected 32 reports, starting in 2002, of loose screws before approaching regulators.

Even before the lead-based paint fiasco, Mattel’s Power Wheels toys were causing fires. Remember those power minicars, designed to be driven by 2-year olds? In 1998, ten million of them were pulled from the market. The WSJ reported that, “Mattel knew about hundreds of problems with the toy’s electrical systems, ‘yet did nothing for years,’” said Ms. Brown, the CPSC chairperson that year.

How does Mattel repeatedly get away with this? The company pays fines. That’s it.

How big is the lead paint threat? Unfortunately, lead paint poisoning builds up over time. But the symptoms are universal: This list is from the lead poisoning source page:

The general symptoms of lead poisoning are universal although more information is available on poisoning in humans. The first symptoms of lead toxicity are very general and nonspecific. These include nausea, sluggishness, vomiting, painful gastrointestinal irritation, diarrhea, loss of appetite, colic, weakness and dehydration. These symptoms are common to many disorders and can often lead to inaccurate diagnosis.
Some symptoms more specific to human poisoning include discoloration of the lips and skin attributed mild secondary anemia, a lead line on the gums, developmental disorders, sterility and abortion. There have also been some preliminary reports indicating that chronic lead poisoning can also lead to chronic nephritis and premature development of arteriosclerosis.
More severe cases of poisoning can produce symptoms including convulsions,”wrist drop” or external limb paralysis, coma and ultimately death.

Getting your child tested is important, but the test is not pleasant. I won’t go into it — but talk to your doctor about it. One paint chip from a few toys is not cause for alarm — but remove it, as the levels will build up as long as your child is exposed to more lead.

And don’t throw your lead toys in the trash. It’s too attractive for other children — return them to the toy manufacturer. They deserve the hassle.