Parents have to do a lot of baby proofing before having a child, but did you ever think that parents would have to make sure that their son or daughter's toys weren't toxic? Since 2007 the US Government has been recalling toys that were proven to have traces in lead in them, and the numbers rank as high as 17 million! This past June 12 million promotional drinking glasses that were sold at fast food restaurants nationwide were recalled by the government. The paint on theses glasses contained the toxic metal cadmium. In search of a US Government issue relating to the environment I stumbled across many interesting Science Daily articles. I retrieved information from the 'Toxic Toy Crisis' Requires Fresh Solutions, Experts Say' article and looked closer at the article Science Daily was referring to. Environmental Science and Technology website featured an article by Monica Becker, Sally Edwards, and Rachel I. Massey titled, Toxic Chemicals in Toys and Children’s Products: Limitations of Current Responses and Recommendations for Government and Industry. All three writers have worked closely in similar fields that pertain to a kid's environment which increases the validity of the article at hand.
A helpful website that has additionally done it's research in tracking toys, where parents can also look for helpful information on hazerdous materials is HealthyStuff.org. They published an article that helps parents research products and ratings. Some of the products tracked include cadmium, chlorine, lead, arsenic, bromine, mercury and tin. Additional "data reflects over 20,000 individual samples of different product components. The testing methodology includes an X-ray technology that identifies elements on or near the surface of a product, called an XRF analyzer", the XRF analyzer is what tracks the levels of elements found in toys. You can also post their HealthyStuff.org Search Widget to your blog or website.
Healthy Child Healthy World, is a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the health and well being of children from harmful environmental exposures. A brief fact regarding the phthalates found in toys as stated by HCHW notes that they are used as "a plastic softener in polyvinyl chloride (also known as PVC or vinyl). Some PVC toys may be labeled with a V or #3 inside the chasing arrows triangle usually located on the bottom of a product. Most won't be labeled at all. Generally, if a toy is a squishy plastic—like rubber duckies and baby dolls—or if it has highly flexible plastic as a component—like the clear pages in child "photo albums," the clear plastic purses that some girl's toys are sold in, or the plastic-like "fabric" used on some dolls—you should avoid it or call the manufacturer to ask if the product is made with PVC or phthalates."
Since a large portion of toys manufactured have been outsourced to China it makes it difficult to test these products before they are shipped to the U.S. Companies can request samples of goods before a giant shipment is placed to test for hazardous products used. Apparently now more then ever, this is necessary. "Although government, industry, and advocacy groups have taken significant actions to solve the problem, including restricting the use of certain substances, that response remains inadequate, the scientists say," quoted from the Toxic Toy Crisis article from November 12, 2010. Perhaps the government and local companies will decide that it's better to craft toys in the states, because it's safer for families, and reduce the production with companies overseas even more.
Other suggestions that have been recommended include the toy industry collaborating a list of toxic substances that provide toxicity levels of all toys made. The Consumer Product Safety Commission does have a list of guidelines for toys containing lead. Other organizations have created lists already that are beneficial to manufacturers, and parents. The government should use toxic chemical lists that have been already composed by companies to properly measure, track, and inspect each mafacturers products. This will help prevent production and enforce the government to enforce stricter regulations.
The World Trade Organization should become more interactive with this issue since America imports most of their toys from other countries. Especially since trade representatives for WTO report to the President and Congress, and part of their responsibilities already include monitoring compliance and handling trade disputes between 150 member nations. A team of negotiators work with the WTO and individual traders practice their rights through the Office of the United States Trade Representative. Therefor negotiations, meetings, and regulations could be addressed and assessed at this level to insure that the Toy Industry is following Safety Compliance Regulations. Some other departments, agencies, organizations, committees, and subcommittees may need to be involved on this issue including the Environmental Protection Agency, who could impose fines for not abiding by environmental regulations, Department of Health and Human Services, because it does raise health concerns on our nations families, and Senate Standing Committee on Health. Many are already involved and have been for quite some time.
For more information, see: HealthyToys.org and U.S. Public Interest Research Group: Trouble in Toyland: The 22nd Annual Survey of Toy Safety. MomsRising.org has developed a text messaging system that uses the HealthyToys.org database.
1.) American Chemical Society. "'Toxic Toy Crisis' Requires Fresh Solutions, Experts Say." ScienceDaily, 12 November 2010. Web. 17 November 2010. <http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2010/11/101110123941.htm>.
2.) Baker, Ralph and Losco, Joseph. "World Trade Organization." AM GOV. 2010 ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 396.
3.) http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/412/toxins-in-toys.html
4.) http://healthychild.org/main/
5.) http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es1009407
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