I think my daughter ingested lead from her toy necklace. What to do?

[sora]

My mother in law sent a Dora necklace made of metal with shiny red paint on it for my 4yr old. She really loved it so I put it on her. A week later now, I just noticed that she was sucking on the pendant. Upon inspection, the paint was chipped off quite a bit from the pendant. And I saw bites on it. I have been so busy attending my baby and I did not think that there was a chance that she would put that in the mouth as she rarely does such a thing. Then I recall a horrible story about a girl suffering from lead poisoning from sucking on her lead jewelry.

I am so angry to my mother in law to send that garbage necklace in the first place but more angry with myself to let her have it. What should I do?

I guess I will take her to a doctor. If she has elevated lead level in her blood, is there anything that can be done? Eating lots of veggies is supposed to help but my daughter rarely eats veggies. I feel so distraught right now.

[stik]

You can get a home lead testing kit to check the jewelry for lead.  I know the recalls in recent years have been scary, but it's possible that this item is just cheap and not hazardous. 

Most cases of lead poisoning involve much more exposure than a week of sucking on a single piece of jewelry. 

[sbgrace]

Actually, jewelry is a cause in kids. I'd be concerned but realize that it doesn't necessarily have lead. There is more awareness now and I think many companies are being careful given the new laws.

I'd be concerned enough, though, to ask the doctor to do a blood lead draw. In fact, I did that with my son once. If she did ingest lead you can get the levels down quickly. I'd want to know. In the meantime, do vitamin C. It can remove the lead if, in fact, there was lead.

[savithny]

First:  Gently, I think your anger is misplaced a bit. 

If you, who currently has little ones, and  are keeping up to date on current concerns in child safety, did not immediately remember the issue of lead in children's jewelry, it is  really  unfair to be furious with your mother in law for not remembering it when she saw something that she thought her granddaughter would love.    She may not have been paying attention to the reports of lead in jewelry, she may have shared  your opinion that your DD doesn't put things in her mouth.  She saw something she thought would delight your child, and your child clearly did love.   And even you did not recall that story until after you saw your daughter had the necklace in her mouth!

The bigger issue with kids jewelry right now is not lead, by the way.   When the recalls came out and the amount of lead in children's jewelry became more widely known, many of the factories that produce it replaced the lead with cadmium.   The toy manufacturers are checking their stuff for lead fairly regularly now, so there's a lot less of it, especially in name-brand toys and jewelry (the licensed characters are owned by companies that have a lot more to lose in case of a lawsuit or a recall.

Cadmium is a lot more toxic than lead, and isn't being tested for as widely.

[laohaire]

The OP said she was mostly mad at herself. I understand being upset with a grandmother for putting her in this position as well - there is enormous pressure (just witness these boards) to just go with the flow, chill out, not put up a fuss. Most people feel that gifts to grandchildren are primarily a relationship issue and that the relationship trumps all else, including health and safety. So the pressure is there, and it's substantial, to just let the child have the gift and let it go. And that IS very frustrating.

I would above all be furious with the manufacturer for tempting a grandmother to buy an unsafe piece of crap toy. And then there's society who thinks that crap has any value whatsoever, and who thinks it's not only acceptable but nice to give something that will end up in the landfill very shortly (due to its cheapness).

[mbravebird]

Supping with calcium will also help, if lead is the issue. But I agree that you should test the necklace before assuming it's an issue. That sucks to hear about the cadmium!

ETA: you can get lead tests at Lowe's or Home Depot in the paint department.

[poorlittlefish]

I actually work at a company that makes children's jewelry.  Do you know where she bought this?  All retailers that we sell to (Target, Walmart, Kohls, Claries etc) require testing for lead.  I wouldn't worry about this. 

[savithny]

Originally Posted by poorlittlefish 

I actually work at a company that makes children's jewelry.  Do you know where she bought this?  All retailers that we sell to (Target, Walmart, Kohls, Claries etc) require testing for lead.  I wouldn't worry about this. 

What are the cadmium testing rules?    They're using it instead of lead to get around the lead tests.

[poorlittlefish]

Sorry, I have been off the computer and didn't notice that you had replied.

Every retailer has their own requirements for testing items.  We (and most manufacturers) have our own standards that meet or exceed all the requirements that our retailers have so that when we sell something in, it will pass any of the testing.  For Cadmium at Kohl's for example, their max is 40ppm.  Like I said though, each retailer has their own requirements but Claires is VERY loose with their testing requirements (just an FYI). 

Most of the plastic jewelry, especially licensed jewelry targeted at young kids (Dora, Princess, etc) has been extensively tested.  People are very suspicious of this, and rightfully so with things that have gone on, but our company spends hundreds of thousands of dollars per year on testing.  We want safe products on the market mainly of course because we all have kids too and want them to be safe but also because some retailers do random testing of the items.  If we would try to "sneak" something by with higher levels of lead or something in it and Walmart would do a random check, we could lose all our business with them.  Not worth it for many reasons. 

If you have any more questions, just let me know.