Like a lead balloon
Filed Under Going Green, Tips & Tricks | November 28, 2007
It’s been the year of toy recalls (we know, you’ve heard it here before) and often lead paint is the culprit. So when we heard that the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, a US consumer organization that publishes an independent review of toys and children’s media, was taking it upon themselves to test toys to confirm they’re free of both surface and embedded lead we had to check them out.
It turns out that toys that receive their ultimate Platinum rating, are not just lead-free toys, but great toys that have been rigorously tested by a panel of kids, families and experts to determine if they do what they claim to do, are age-appropriate, safe, developmentally-appropriate and lots more.
Not only that, but in future they will require companies to provide them with documentation to prove that their products have been tested by an independent lab and found to be lead and phthalate free. We think this might be an interesting tact for retailers to consider as well.
The site founders, mother and daughter Joanne and Stephanie, have created a resource that’s a great place to troll for toy ideas. It’s broken down by age from infant all the way up to later elementary school. Within each age group it’s further broken down into categories like bath toys, puzzles, dolls and huggables. They also have a newsletter and books, top ten toy safety myths, and Stephanie has an interesting blog.
Check out the 2008 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award winning toy list: www.toyportfolio.com/PlatinumAwards/
3 Responses to “Like a lead balloon”
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Let us know what you think or share your great finds with us so we can share them with other Vancouver mothers!
Thanks for the great support! It’s been a very upsetting couple of months as we’ve been immersed in lead safety issues. Since we did not publish our book this year, we’ve also posted some of our material on youtube.com (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtrbTbzNkXg).
On the subject of lead-paint, I was speaking to a friend of mine yesterday who recently had a “Melissa and Doug” block tested for lead and discovered it contained 4 times the allowable amount! I think this is very important for parents to know as many of us choose the “Melissa and Doug” line because it is not plastic and believe wooden toys are a better, safer option for our children. I know of no recall on their products which is very concerning if my friend’s block was not an anomoly.
Keep up the good work.