The Toy Recalls and the Long Sorry Story of Childhood Lead Poisoning
- - Mattel Toys has just recalled 18.6 million toys worldwide (1/2 in the U.S.) because they were coated with lead paint or were held together with magnets that could detach and be swallowed by a toddler.
- - On August 8, Schylling Associated recalled 51,000 Thomas & Friends, Curious George, and circus tops coated with lead paint.
- - On June 13, RC2 Corp. recalled 1.2 million Thomas and Friends wooden railway toys for the same reason.
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Lead is Bad NewsYou also certainly know that ingesting lead is very bad for kids. It preferentially enters the growing bones and brain and other organs, where it can cause significant disruptions and damage, such as learning problems and ADHD at relatively low levels; seizures, brain damage and even death at high levels.
As it turns out, this latest wrinkle is part of a long, fascinating, tragic and disgraceful story: how and why the U.S. was so late in taking steps to prevent lead poisoning, a totally preventable, devastating childhood affliction.
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A Brief History of Getting the Lead Out
As we humans have for 6,000 years, you gotta love lead and its wonderful, seductive properties. Lead has a low melting point and is easy to fashion into objects. It holds pigments beautifully. It's quite weather-resistant. It makes paint brighter, stickier, longer lasting, mildew-resistant. And it is cheap.
Rich ancient Romans especially loved lead objects, so that lead poisoning was common and perhaps one reason so many Roman emperors (like Caligula, Tiberius, and Nero) were complete nut jobs. Hair analysis has shown that Beethoven probably succumbed to lead poisoning. Tragically, no Beethoven's 10th.
Although many had been suspicious (including Ben Franklin), it wasn't until 1892 that childhood lead poisoning was recognized by the scientific community. As a result, lead paint was banned in Australia (the site of the study) in 1914.
Despite thousands of subsequent reports on occupational lead poisoning and at least 35 on childhood lead poisoning, it wasn't until 1970 that a statute was finally passed banning lead paint in residential homes in the U.S. (lead continued to be added to paint for another 8 years, so only paints manufactured after 1978 are uniformly safe). Not until 1990 was lead banned from gasoline (? more proof we Americans love our cars more than our homes and our kids).
Why, you may ask, were we 55 years behind Australia (and much of Europe) in banishing lead paint, leading to millions of U.S kids being unnecessarily lead-poisoned?
So powerful corporate interests of the lead, gasoline, paint, varnish, banking, and real estate industries lined up behind pressuring congressmen not to pass any legislation and to spread the word: The evidence is inadequate to warrant such a drastic solution. Not that many kids are being poisoned. Their developmental problems preceded the lead ingestion. Lead in the body isn't really that bad. The economy will suffer, jobs will be lost. And a brazen lie: We aren't even adding lead to residential paint anymore.
Additionally, who got lead poisoned? Mostly poor kids, who are notoriously short on lobbyists and political clout. And because of the poor scientific studies (for example, the comparison groups were also lead poisoned by current standards), the deleterious effects of lead on IQ and school performance were attributed to lousy parenting, not to the lead. So there was little countervailing pressure until the scientific evidence became undeniable and the moral imperative to do something overwhelming.
Did banning lead work? It has proved one of the most effective public health measures ever. In 1970 the median lead level of kids in the U.S was 13.7 micrograms/deciliter. In 1994 it was 3.2 (anything over 10 is now considered a potential problem). But there are still pockets of old lead paint in the U.S. and it is estimated that 310,000 kids age 1-5 years still have elevated lead levels (greater than 10).
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The Good News
In the U.S. everyone who allowed these toxic toys into the country has major egg on their faces and are scrambling to make restitution. Watch for the Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue much more stringent safeguards before these kinds of goods enter the country. Watch for the toy companies to do their own testing and to have huge "Guaranteed Non-Toxic and Lead-Free!!" logos plastered all over their toy boxes.
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What does this mean for you?- DON'T PANIC. There has yet to be a case of lead poisoning reported from these toys. I suspect most kids will have no lead ingestion. A few kids may have had a low level exposure, but severe poisoning from the toys alone is pretty unlikely.
- If your child has one of these toys, see how the paint looks. Any missing or thinning? Does your child mouth his/her toys?
- When in doubt, call your pediatric provider and get a simple blood test done to check for lead in the blood. (Send the bill to the toy manufacturer if your insurance balks at paying. I dare them not to reimburse you.)
- Keep up with future alerts. You can go to the Consumer Product Safety Commission's excellent website (http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prerel.html) for current and past recalls. If you're really paranoid, you can sign up with them for email alerts.
- 70% of toys in this country are made in China. They need to feel the economic pain of this outrage. Why not pay a little extra and look for toys made in the USA this holiday season?
This scare will soon fade but childhood lead poisoning from old paint will remain a problem for decades to come, all because in the not-too-distant past we ignored our sacred responsibility to protect our kids and succumbed to the propaganda and pressures of greedy corporate interests. I wonder if we have learned our lesson.
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Sources for history of lead poisoning:
"History of Childhood Lead Poisoning"
Herbert Needleman
"Childhood Lead Poisoning: The Tortuous Path from Science to Policy"
David C. Bellinger and Andrew M. Bellinger
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: toy recall, lead, China, consumer product safety, childrens health
19 Comments:
I don't know about others, but I'm going to just buy American toys this Xmas - both for safety and to support our own U.S. companies.
Aren't there are some pending class action suits against the lead industry for what you have written about?
Typical left wing anti business propaganda if you ask me.
Kudos to you, Doctor for writing this.
We need more awareness of lead poisoning.
Add to toys, paint and plastic bibs, ceramic dishes from China and Third World countries should also be checked carefully.
When my son was 2 we moved into an old, beautiful, fix-it-up Victorian house. Long story short, he became lead poisoned from our renovations and we didn't know to check for months after the fact. Ten years later we've learned he has learning disabilities and we'll never know if it was from the lead or not.
My point: as the Doctor said, if in doubt get your kids tested for lead.
Since you wrote this, there have been even more lead tainted toys discovered and the Chinese have decided to "wage war" over the next 4 months (in time for Xmas) on this problem.
It's no longer surprising that people would do anything for money. It's sad that they have to include children's toys in this problem.
I think that this toy recalls are simply appropriate for our kid's safety and everyone else.
These articles are great - particularly this one that is level-headed and non-threatening. I think most of us agree that we should try to keep some business and control in our own country. One anonymous comment was about buying US products. Can someone let us know who makes products right here in the good ole US? EVERY toy AND article of children's clothing I have picked up in the last two weeks has been made in China...
I think we should expose any and every company who makes damageing product's,cancell thier contract's and make our own product's,we have very skilled people here in the US who can do that same work.Our government should stop outsourceing our jobs and keep them all here.cheap labor does no one any good if everything get's recalled they get sued, and have to pay back millions anyway. everything we get does not have to come from china and how are they in an uproar over the USA CITIZENS not wanting thier products any longer.I for one will only buy things not made in china or anywhere else outside of the USA if i can read i can decide for myself.China has to big of a place in our economy this practice has to change now, how are they helping us if they are slowly killing us.It's enough people here to do every job we need done so let us do the jobs.
I believe it is time to stand up and protect our family and friends. We need to support the UNITED STATES MORE!!!! Things brought in from China is being made to just make a quick buck and forget the safety factors. We are mad and we are going to have to start doing something about it. We need to start buying only American made products and I know it is hard to find them alot but we need to show the world we are not going to take their rejects or the stuff they would not give to their own families. If a product is not made in the USA then think twice about buying it. If we put a hurting on the money being made on those products, maybe the manufacturing companies will start to take us seriously and start thinking of the risk factors and people who may be hurt from their products and not just making money to be rich.
It's a sign that tells us to be aware of the safety of those products, especially if we are giving it to our children.
It is about time this came up... the truth is: there is no free lunch. The US is the only place in the world where toys are SO cheap... this shows why: they are low quality and dangerous. We need to pay more for better quality stuff and this goes not only for toys but for everything else. The bottom line is: we should buy less quantity and buy better quality. Kids don't need all that stuff anyways... a few GOOD toys should be enough. I am all for bying US made stuff and/ or foreign products that are high quality like the HABA toys from Germany.
I suspected long ago, that many products Made in China do not meet international standards, so I have for long always distanced myself from Made in China products, but 95% of childrens products, gift items etc on sale in many parts of the world are Made in China, making it extremely difficult to make a choice. It is disheartening that most products now come from China alone.
Two new recalls were announced today - childrens' watering cans with unacceptable lead levels and hiking boots improperly labeled as being electric shock resistant. Guess where they came from? CHINA!!
I for one am boycotting products from China. If it's not made in the US I'll do without! I don't need it enough to sacrifice my safety or my family's safety!
Unfortunately you will have a very hard time finding toys made in the U.S.A. because everything is made in China. If you do find toys made in the U.S.A. your kids unfortunately will not want to play with them. We need more products made right here in our own country!
I went to toys r us looking at toys for my 1 year old grand daughter. I was looking for toys not made in china. I looked at several of the major toy companies and the only ones I found were Little Tikes and Step 2.
I try to buy American made items every time I shop. I look at the label and if it is made in America I will buy it and pay a little more for it before I buy the junk made in China. The sad thing about it is so many things are made in China. I feel China is trying to demise America slowly, and we are letting them do it.
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Could the lead toys contribute to the autism epidemic?
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