LEAD in Melissa and doug toys! - Page 5

[meganne79]

This is just so frusturating! I want dd to have toys she enjoys but we are on a budget. It is so hard to find safe toys that are priced ok for us.

[tangozulu]

99% of our toys are M&D...I thought I was doing right by my kids by getting them

I agree with some of the PPs who said some of them seem to be made better than others. I can't see, for example, the piano causing a problem or even the kitchen set that folds out. But some things like the magnetic number/letter sets which my ds LOVES to chew on...ugh... :

I just ordered 3 of their toys for DS's bday which is Sat. yesterday. If I keep them out of the baby's hands, do you think they are OK? I mean, my 3 year old isn't putting the pieces in his mouth. IDK... I can't decide if I should try to cancel my order and get some HABA or something for him. There is one store near us that carries HABA, but they don't have nearly the selection that M&D does (at the store), seems like mostly toys for baby ds.

This is really a bummer.

[Radhanuga]

M&D passed all the tests in France, and the standards there are higher than the US for lead and other.

Also , FYI, many of Haba's soft and wooden toys are partially made in China.

[counterGOPI]

Originally Posted by tangozulu

99% of our toys are M&D...I thought I was doing right by my kids by getting them

I agree with some of the PPs who said some of them seem to be made better than others. I can't see, for example, the piano causing a problem or even the kitchen set that folds out. But some things like the magnetic number/letter sets which my ds LOVES to chew on...ugh... :

I just ordered 3 of their toys for DS's bday which is Sat. yesterday. If I keep them out of the baby's hands, do you think they are OK? I mean, my 3 year old isn't putting the pieces in his mouth. IDK... I can't decide if I should try to cancel my order and get some HABA or something for him. There is one store near us that carries HABA, but they don't have nearly the selection that M&D does (at the store), seems like mostly toys for baby ds.

This is really a bummer.

I know exactly what you mean mama

I definately would never allow another m&d toy near any of my kids or friends kids no matter what they may try to say about, how 'safe' their toys are I know the truth. Nevermind the fact that most of thier toys aren't even real wood!! they are mostly particle board (which is glued together with formeldahyde) or filled wood uke: nd again their working conditions, slave labor etc. i'd much rather know 100% my kids aren't exposed to anything bad to them by making my own toys and only buying from companies that can be trusted like spiel and holz, ostheimer, kinderkram etc and of course wahm companies etc you can talk to the person actually making the toys like willowtoys. (love them!)

[counterGOPI]

yeah i hear that haba is havign some things made in china now too thats stinks. we don't really have anything of theirs anyways but still...

[JesseMomme]

This is thoroughly depressing.

The only wooden toys that were widely available that I could afford to get for my kids were M&D.

Now what about all the wooden stuff (lincoln logs, busy bead thingie) that I got at places like Target? or the Imaginarium company? Or the huge pile of building blocks that I have no idea what the Co. name was?

I feel like the world's biggest idiot for assuming if it was made out of wood then it was more than likely safe. I didn't even think about the paint on wood. :

Ironically my niece (who is 6) was over this weekend and decided to "help" pick up toys upstairs. She picked up some pieces of ripped paper to throw in the garbage and that was all I saw was her throwing paper away in the garbage. I look closer in the garbage later on and there's toys in the garbage too! I wasn't totally happy at the time taking the time to fish out "the good toys" - the wooden ones, the safe ones, the ones that are supposed to last - (think she could have tossed a broken one at least? noooo LOL)

what a difference a thread makes.

[donttrustthesystem]

I'm really glad to read this thread...thank you for the information about how the paint chips so easily on M&D toys! Those prices are a little too good to be true.

I went to my dear friend's house who has a 3 year old. She had hellllla M&D toys...I mean they were all over the place!! Lots. She just did a hair sample on her DD and the lead level was .3, meaning almost nothing. That led me to deduce that M&D did not have lead.

[lindberg99]

Originally Posted by JesseMomme

This is thoroughly depressing.

The only wooden toys that were widely available that I could afford to get for my kids were M&D.

Now what about all the wooden stuff (lincoln logs, busy bead thingie) that I got at places like Target?

Lincoln Logs are made in China. My DH found some generic ones at Wal-mart that are made in the US though. I think you just have to read the box to find out where stuff is made. I was at the toy store the other day and found a Thomas puzzle for DS that was made in the US (I think Ravensburger brand) and then I picked up another Thomas puzzle right next to it but made by a different company and that one was made in China.

[cchrissyy]

OMG.

OK guys, I hope I can help. here are my crednentials:

1) my DS had heavy metal toxicity to lead, mercury, and arcenic.

2) we've particpated in studies and lots of testing and Dr meetings on this issue

3) I retail toys, including a little M&D


OK, so I wish I'd seen this post sooner to correct two of the OP's biggest misconceptions- first, home lead test kits are VERY innacurate. Google it, they are practically useless because they give tons of false positives AND false negatives
second, blood lead levels fall NATURALLY. You could remove any random thing in your house, wait a while, and levels should fall. that's because blood levels only detect recent exposures, and as time passes, some is excreted, and some latches onto your organs to cause permanent damage, but either way it's not free-floating in the blood anymore.

I blogged my ideas here re: what to do with the toys you already have, what to buy, how worried to be.
http://blog.tendercargo.com/personal...-recall-storm/

I promise, I'm not just spouting opinion here. we are enrolled in the Childhood Autism Risks in Genetics and the Environment study at the UCD MIND institute and being perosnally involved with metal toxicity as a mom and a shop owner, I take this stuff very seriosuly.


edit:
if you don't follow my link, *please* at least hear this.

"Our case doesn’t have a simple answer- we have NOT owned any recalled toys and we have no obvious exposures in our environmental history. Presently we are looking for genetic differences, such as an inability to metabolize and reject the toxins that we all encounter in modern life. I don’t worry about his toys, I worry about the times he teethed on my key chain, on my cell phone, or even maybe the pesticides on our food or the dyes on his Made in China pillowcase or WalMart sippy cups. I wonder about when we lived right next to the freeway or how I got amalgam fillings while still nursing him. My message to parents is to NOT live in fear of any of these things, because you can’t possibly live a life escaping every one, and it may be years before science proves which things actually harmed us and which prove safe."

[JesseMomme]

After I got done reeling, I decided to calm down and keep the MD toys that I do have and not "bar" the kids getting them for Christmas. I do still have to weed through the toys though. : I will of course be more diligent about checking labels in the future.

[counterGOPI]

Originally Posted by cchrissyy

OMG.

OK guys, I hope I can help. here are my crednentials:

1) my DS had heavy metal toxicity to lead, mercury, and arcenic.

2) we've particpated in studies and lots of testing and Dr meetings on this issue

3) I retail toys, including a little M&D


OK, so I wish I'd seen this post sooner to correct two of the OP's biggest misconceptions- first, home lead test kits are VERY innacurate. Google it, they are practically useless because they give tons of false positives AND false negatives
second, blood lead levels fall NATURALLY. You could remove any random thing in your house, wait a while, and levels should fall. that's because blood levels only detect recent exposures, and as time passes, some is excreted, and some latches onto your organs to cause permanent damage, but either way it's not free-floating in the blood anymore.

I blogged my ideas here re: what to do with the toys you already have, what to buy, how worried to be.
http://blog.tendercargo.com/personal...-recall-storm/

I promise, I'm not just spouting opinion here. we are enrolled in the Childhood Autism Risks in Genetics and the Environment study at the UCD MIND institute and being perosnally involved with metal toxicity as a mom and a shop owner, I take this stuff very seriosuly.


edit:
if you don't follow my link, *please* at least hear this.

"Our case doesn’t have a simple answer- we have NOT owned any recalled toys and we have no obvious exposures in our environmental history. Presently we are looking for genetic differences, such as an inability to metabolize and reject the toxins that we all encounter in modern life. I don’t worry about his toys, I worry about the times he teethed on my key chain, on my cell phone, or even maybe the pesticides on our food or the dyes on his Made in China pillowcase or WalMart sippy cups. I wonder about when we lived right next to the freeway or how I got amalgam fillings while still nursing him. My message to parents is to NOT live in fear of any of these things, because you can’t possibly live a life escaping every one, and it may be years before science proves which things actually harmed us and which prove safe."

thank you for posting mama but you must have misread my OP.
i KNOW that the home lead tests don't work that why we hired a professional to come out.

i also know number rise and fall naturally. believe me we dealt with dd's high lead levels for a year, we are not uneducated when it comes to lead levels. dd's levels stayed up unti lthe toys we removed a year later. same goes for my best friends child. please re-read my OP and any posts that follwed so you know where I am coming from thank you for your input though!

[Katheda]

I can't get on this site yet, it's so busy but they did toxin testing on M&D toys and have the results here:
http://www.healthytoys.org/product.s...a%20%26%20Doug
I haven't seen it yet, am waiting for it to load

ETA:
They tested one M&D toy, the shape sorting cube with wooden blocks:
http://www.healthytoys.org/product.d...p?getrecno=289
results were in the green (LOW) with arsenic detected in the yellow pentagon (2 ppm). Lead, Cadmium, Chlorine/PVC, and Mercury tested for 0 ppm in every toy component.

[Katheda]

what interesting, after exploring that site for a bit, is that lots of the safest toys are Made In China and the thing that tested highest for lead was made in Italy. It's so often assumed that Made in China = not safe and Made In Europe = safe and that's clearly not the case.

[BennyPai]

: So much information to process. Oy.
I did wonder about M&D's low prices, but our budget is tight and I was more than willing to accept it.:

[melissa17s]

On the topic of lead... did you see this article on the Motherings main page about pvc toys and lead? http://www.mothering.com/sections/ac...ember2007.html

[counterGOPI]

Originally Posted by melissa17s

On the topic of lead... did you see this article on the Motherings main page about pvc toys and lead? http://www.mothering.com/sections/ac...ember2007.html

i know scary isn't it, i rember hearing about that when dd was about 3 months old and thats when i first made the switch to be plastic free with her items and within the home.

[mercy589]

That healthytoys.org looks like a great link! I'm not done looking at it yet, but it looks promising!

[Katheda]

another Melissa & Doug toy was tested by the people I linked to above and was found to be good enough to make their "Best Toys" list here:

http://www.healthytoys.org/product.least.php

You can request specific toys be tested and then vote for that toy to be the next tested. I think that if you have a specific concern, they have the capabilities to do real actual cold hard scientific testing.

[Manonash]

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

Geeesh! When will this stop? Honestly, I don't know what is safe and what is not anymore:

[Neth Naneth]

The HealthyToys.org site is great. We only had the one M&D shape sorter and I remove the yellow blocks. Thanks for sharing the link.