The public should demand that consumer goods are manufactured with safety in mind

A few years ago I began boycotting things made in China. The Chinese goods were less expensive, but I felt it was an unfair situation because Chinese manufacturers don’t have to meet employee safety standards or any environmental restrictions that add to the cost of American goods. It made Christmas shopping a challenge. Even my daughter’s favorite American Girl dolls were made in China. So I felt a false sense of security (and I’ll admit to a bit of self righteousness) when the fears erupted over the lead in toys from China.

That feeling ended quickly when I learned it’s not just China, it’s not just lead, and it’s not just toys.

On Dec. 5, the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine, a coalition of organizations working to protect Maine families from toxic chemicals, released chemical testing results for over 1,200 popular children’s toys. Of the products tested, 35 percent contained lead (with 17 percent above the federal recall standard for lead paint); 47 percent were made from PVC (which typically contains hormone-disrupting chemicals known as phthalates); and nearly 3 percent contained the known carcinogen and toxic metal, cadmium. Eighty percent of the toys were manufactured in China, but the others came from elsewhere, including the U.S. There is virtually no U.S. government oversight on chemicals used to manufacture any toys, children’s products, or household goods – even those made in the U.S.

I’ve tried to avoid chemicals and preservatives in my kids’ food, which is easier because there are federal regulations to list ingredients on food labels. But we all know it’s not just food that goes in the mouths of babies and young children.

Currently the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission only restricts the use of lead paint, otherwise it has little authority and few resources to regulate or restrict the hundreds of toxic chemicals that are used to make products that my children put in their mouths, play with, or wear. Avoiding chemicals that may harm my children is impossible, since there is no requirement for manufacturers to disclose the makeup of their goods. Toy retailers are just as unaware of the toy contents as shoppers, and only remove toys when they are recalled.

Our babies and young children are the most vulnerable to toxic chemicals since their brains and bodies are still developing, and because, pound for pound, they are exposed to higher levels of these chemicals than adults. We shouldn’t pretend that there is a safe level of exposure. Research shows that even low-level exposure to toxic chemicals can have lifelong impacts. Toxic chemicals have no place in children’s toys, or their homes. Period.

Fortunately, we can get information about many common toys and the chemicals they contain and the results of the Alliance’s tests online at www.healthytoys.org, a Web site launched to better inform parents and toy purchasers. The site draws attention to the broken chemical safety system that allows thousands of hazardous and untested chemicals to be used in children’s products and provides specific guidelines for how to petition government agencies and toy manufacturers to phase out toxic chemicals from toys immediately.

Recently, product safety has been in the minds of parents and the media. But now that the gift-giving season is past, things could slip back to business as usual. Let’s not let that happen. Let’s give our children a gift that truly keeps on giving – better health and a better future. Let’s urge our elected officials to impose restrictions on the use of toxic and untested chemicals, in goods manufactured in or imported to the U.S.

The state of Maine is in a position to lead the nation as legislators discuss the issue this session. Elected representatives should be stressing the importance of immediate reforms in product safety.

One way would be through a bill sponsored by Rep. Hannah Pingree, D-North Haven, “An Act To Protect Children’s Health and the Environment from Toxic Chemicals in Toys and Children’s Products,” which is before the Legislature this session.

The good news is that safe toys are possible. Many of the products (40 percent) the Alliance tested did not contain any lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury or PVC, including many toys made in China. These results show that manufacturers can make toys free of unnecessary toxic chemicals. It’s time the public demands they do so.

Bettyann Sheats is a West Point graduate and former U.S. Army aviator, now a stay-at-home mom and Parent-Teacher Organization member. She lives in Auburn.