LEAD in Melissa and doug toys! - Page 2

[nascarbebe]

That is too bad. A year ago I bought the pull stacking zoo and I was really disappointed how easily the paint chipped off the corners. There are so many other companies that are much better quality than M&D. I haven't bought M&D in over a year and don't plan on ever doing it again. My two favorite wooden toys companies are Plan Toys and Haba.

[HipGal]

Ugh! How horrible. We don't have a lot of Melissa and Doug, but I have been disturbed by the paint chipping off the stuff we do have.

[BoSoxMama]

Originally Posted by Leilalu

exactly. How can you be sure that ingredients and paints and such are not manufactured in china?

And books? Most books are manufactured in China from what I understand.

[sbgrace]

This is so irritating to me.
All my boys play food is melissa and doug becuase I didn't want to do plastic...because of lead actually. I've called the company because of paint chips and my sons of course putting play food in their mouths and they assured me it was safe.
I can't afford to replace everything. I guess we need a lead test given that we had recalled trains too. Sheesh this makes me sick.
Books bother me too. Side note though. I had a book eater. He ate books because he was iron deficient. Iron deficient and lead go together. When I saw that the books he was eating were from China and we were having trouble getting his iron up we had a lead draw. He was normal lead wise. That part is reassuring to me. Though that test was a while back. So I'll probably ask them to re-test him next time he has a metabolic blood draw.
His twin was only tested at 12 months though and has done way more chewing on toys over his life. So I'll see if his ped. will order a draw.
This makes me incredibly mad.

[beka1977]

Originally Posted by counterGOPI

yep we only buy made in usa, germany and canada stuff.

How did you decide on these three countries? Why not some of the others that seem "safe" ?

[Ygle]

Originally Posted by counterGOPI

NOW, a diferent friend of mine went to her local tv station b/c they had an expensive lead testing machine and she brought a few toys including MELISSA AND DOUG and what do you know- trace amounts of lead were found!

Geez... I thought these were safe considering they claim their products are all lead free, so much for that I guess.

[Logan's Mom]

Originally Posted by Ygle

Geez... I thought these were safe considering they claim their products are all lead free, so much for that I guess.

I have no idea about this...but I'm wondering if not all companies claim their products to be lead free....

[MommyErin]

Not to scare y'all but as I'm dealing with my DS high metal, including lead, levels, you should know that the standard blood test that pediatricians prescribe isn't really enough to determine whether your kids are in the "safe" range. Our metabolic doctor told us that lead only lives in the bloodstream for a short time and then moves to cells and such. Since DS blood test was well within the "safe" range, she had DS take an intensive urine test where he had to take a chelating agent and then we collected his urine for a six hour period and then sent a cross section of it to a lab. Turns out he's got *high* lead levels but the lead had been in his system for so long it was undetectible in the blood test. And, honestly, I recommend testing for all heavy metals, not just lead. My son tested high for mercury and arsenic as well. The test was only $99 if you paid up front and it was WELL worth it.

Unfortunately, it's likely that we're just at the tip of the iceberg. I'm freaking out about my DS M&D floor puzzles. Fortunately, they don't peel and he doesn't put them in his mouth but his hands touch the pieces a ton and then he touches himself, his mouth, his nose, etc. Does anyone know about the puzzles or is all the info available just about the wood toys?

[Pariah]

I just e-mailed them not long ago too and asked if they were having lead issues. Of course they said no. So disappointing, as my mom was going to buy a bunch of M&D toys for our son...I'll have to tell her this evening not to get any of those now.

[sbgrace]

Originally Posted by MommyErin

Not to scare y'all but as I'm dealing with my DS high metal, including lead, levels, you should know that the standard blood test that pediatricians prescribe isn't really enough to determine whether your kids are in the "safe" range. Our metabolic doctor told us that lead only lives in the bloodstream for a short time and then moves to cells and such. Since DS blood test was well within the "safe" range, she had DS take an intensive urine test where he had to take a chelating agent and then we collected his urine for a six hour period and then sent a cross section of it to a lab. Turns out he's got *high* lead levels but the lead had been in his system for so long it was undetectible in the blood test. And, honestly, I recommend testing for all heavy metals, not just lead. My son tested high for mercury and arsenic as well. The test was only $99 if you paid up front and it was WELL worth it.

An actual metabolic specialist (medical doctor) ordered a chelation test for metals?
What metabolic condition does your son have?
I'm really confused here. Chelation in any form would I think be dangerous for many kids with metabolic conditions.

I'm saying this as a parent of a child with a metabolic condition whose had every metabolic test imaginable I think and I've read a gazillion medical journals on metabolic conditions and I've never seen chelation and looking for metals mentioned. Nor have I ever seen this for lead testing from a traditional medical approach. I am not saying the doctor you saw isn't right for your child. I'm just really curious about a metabolic doctor ordering this type of testing and for what metabolic condition?

[Mama2Bug]

This is bothersome. We have lots of Melissa and Doug toys. We try to avoid characters and plastic, so they were our most affordable option. I agree that the quality on some of the toys isn't great. The play food, for instance, chips very easily. Some of it, like the mailbox, has held up well.

On a more reassuring note, we had DD 's lead levels tested just a few months ago- right after the Thomas recalls- and her levels were perfectly normal. They weren't high at all. I was actually very surprised, because we live in a very old (rented) house and even had some of the recalled trains.

I am looking around and literally 70% of her toys are M&D. We have the play food, the piano, the mailbox, numerous puzzles, the firetruck, animals magnets, shape sorter, ring stacker.... So now I am completely torn. The toys haven't actually been recalled, right? DD's lead levels are good. The toys aren't plastic, but they aren't Grade A, top-of-the-line either. If I get rid of them, DD will lose every last one of her favorites. We can't afford to replace them.

AAARG! In fact, we recently got rid of the junky, plastic toy farm she loved and replaced it with the M&D folding one. We couldn't really afford that either. I used a gift card to pay for it.

Lovely.

[sarah_bella1050]

I think whats going on here is that there is SOME lead in most all painted toys, it is below the legal limit of .06, but still, there is some. The toys that are being recalles have something like .07 and are therefore over the legal limit. Melissa and Doug toys probably DO have lead in them, but since it's under the legal limit, they can claim that it's "safe". Now I don't know about everyone else, but I am sick and tired of our countries low standards for toxicity! Why do we allow things that in other countries are banned? Things like lead, phthalates, teflon, and genetically modified food. These things are not only in our system, but in our childrens, running through our breastmilk, in their mouthes under the guise of "baby safe" toys. It makes me so angy I could spit

[rootzdawta]

Originally Posted by Ruthla

So is plastic safer than wood with lead paint?

Good question! I'd love to see an answer.

Shoot, at least the paint doesn't chip off the plastic toys I have.

[almadianna]

Originally Posted by NoMariposa

We are a China Free Home. So, yes, I realize exactly what that means.

that computer you used to get on the internet and made that reply was probably mostly made in china... so while i agree that we have to be careful about things MIC, i think none of us can really call ourselves china free.

[almadianna]

i have stayed away from M&D toys because i really honestly dont trust them that much.
all of the toys that we have bought our babe were made in germany or the US and even then we get the natural stuff if possible. It is really impossible to not buy anything made in china but you do what you can...

[Leilalu]

Originally Posted by almadianna

that computer you used to get on the internet and made that reply was probably mostly made in china... so while i agree that we have to be careful about things MIC, i think none of us can really call ourselves china free.

I agree. you would also have to avoid most shopping places,and restaurants, and cell phones of course, and computers, headphones, maybe even drawer knob pulls.

The point being- no one living in modern society can completely shun international trade.

[mommajb]

The m&d toys are of varying quality but I wonder if this points to different factories in China with different sourcing methods. We had stacking rings that lost so much paint I took them away but some of the play food, while dented, has not chipped.

I know I won't buy anymore of these toys but wonder what I should do with what we have. I don't want it to stay around and harn my child but w/o more info it seems wasteful to dump it. Perhaps I should pack it up (especially the toy food since it does go in the mouth) and take a wait and see attitude.

What are you ladies doing with the M&D you have?

[jauncourt]

My mom has the number clock (I had her keep a bunch of the toys when we were moved out here by the military) and she is stripping it with soy-based paint stripper (designed for safely stripping lead paints in house renovations) and repainting it with safer paints. Any painted wooden toy we have that tests positive is getting this treatment.

Maura

[spsmom]

Originally Posted by mommajb

The m&d toys are of varying quality but I wonder if this points to different factories in China with different sourcing methods.

I am just having a hard time grasping this! I feel so betrayed! One of the factors that stood out for me with m/d when I became a retailer is that they "supposedly" own their own factories. and the people who make the toys in china are actual m/d employees working in m/d owned factories. they claim they do not outsource. i just don't know what i am going to do at this point. i was pretty much done Christmas shopping. we don't do a lot of gifts as it is, but basically all their toys are m/d sitting in a bin waiting to be wrapped for Christmas.

[StrawberryFields]

Originally Posted by Ruthla

So is plastic safer than wood with lead paint?

You know, I have been thinking about this question all day and I think I would stick with the wooden toys over the plastic ones. Since most of the lead recalls are plastic toys you have a double whammy--plastic, AND lead paint. At least with the wooden toys you only have the lead paint to deal with.

I really like the idea mentioned about stripped lead positive wood toys and refinishing. I keep a bucket of OSMO hardwax oil in the house and I believe that it states it is safe for toy finishing. That is a possibility I am going to explore and consider.