I have written extensively about safe, developmentally appropriate toys as well as these recalls and the hazards of toys filled with lead, BPA and phthalates. I have however, refrained from being alarmist. My goal has been to inform, not to create hysteria. Unfortunately, that is not the case in your post.

I’m concerned that you indicate that “no level of lead is safe” – when this is not true -in one of your linked sources we actually find this paragraph

‘…Dr. Michael Shannon, a Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School pediatrician and toxicologist, said the risk to children playing with these toys is low. “A child really has to be able to bite off, or pick off and eat, pieces of paint to be significantly exposed,” he said….’

You also say that “even small levels of lead can be harmful – well, that’s not exactly what your source says – it says, “smaller amounts than previously thought”.

It’s important for parents to be aware of the dangers to their children and the ridiculous situation at the CPSC…but it is not appropriate to propagate inaccurate information that, as we know from “shock jock land: creates hysteria…not intelligent action.

Lead is harmful to children (to adults too) but, your posts indicates that every single item with a microgram of lead in it is extremely harmful…which is untrue. Avoiding every little bit of lead would be close to impossible. In reality, the message to parents to be safe now is watch the recall lists; educate yourself on what types of toys could contain health hazards; buy from websites that promote or indicate that toys meet the higher safety standards of the EU or individual manufacturers.

OK- I’m done – please be more careful in the future – let parents know that there are a wide variety of toys available that are safe and where they can be purchased. As the holidays approach, parents can simply focus on getting rid of the much of plastic, made in China toys as possible and moving toward great safe toys that are better both physically and mentally for their children. There are lots of options out there!

I guess I wasn’t quite done…we all make mistakes but, we Mommy bloggers need to hold ourselves to high levels of journalistic responsibility to be taken seriously in the wider world of media. I look forward to reading future posts of yours!

MC Milker - The Not-Quite-Crunchy Parent

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Deborah