Thursday, August 02, 2007

Get The Lead Out

Fisher Price announced yesterday that they are recalling more than one million toys because they may contain lead-based paint. The toys in question are all Sesame Street, Diego, and Dora toys - pretty much Jack's favorite stuff. I just reviewed the LONG list of stuff, and it's like looking into Jack's toy box, he has so much of it. Luckily for me, the recall only affects toys sold after May 1, 2007, and all of Jack's are older than that. But that's honestly just luck.

This story has me in fits of Protective Mama Bear Rage. Lead paint? Are you fucking kidding me? A few months ago, there was a safety recall on a toy chair that Jack had. That was a case that I'm not upset about. They tested the toy, but some kid got creative and found a way to hurt himself with it. Grownups can test things like crazy and still not have the ingenuity of a toddler bent on destruction. That's understandable. But lead paint is pretty damned easy to avoid- and to test for. Things like this are completely avoidable and simply should not happen.

4 comments:

littlemonstercallum said...

I'm like you and just can't understand how these things can happen. Was somebody just not paying attention that particular day. As parents we try our best to protect our children from bad/dangerous things and you expect to be able to trust a reputable firm such as Fisher Price. Glad to hear that Jack's toys won't have to go back.

As for safety checks etc, they should have kids do the final check, so many times they are the ones to find to be creative with a screw or something.

Anonymous said...

I've been feeling some guilt over buying crap made out of country for awhile, and had already started planning on buying more domestically when all the cat food stuff happened.

We don't need half the crap we have, and all we do buying it is create an environment where stuff like this happens in the ruse to get things faster and cheaper.

Screw it-I'm chopping down the trees in my backyard, and they can have blocks. Lots and lots of blocks. :)

KB said...

I find it amazing that those silly Thomas trains that Andy loves so much cost $15 a piece, but are made with lead paint in China. Really? For $15 for an inch of WOOD, you can't non-toxic paint?

Think of the profits these companies are making. Rather obscene really.

Anonymous said...

That's EXACTLY how I felt!