How To Shop For Safe Toys This Holiday Season

Newsweek:

It's a tough year to be a toy-buying parent. In recent months, almost 25 million mostly Chinese-made toys have been recalled because they have dangerous amounts of lead or magnets--which can cause intestinal damage when swallowed--in them. Then there were Aqua Dots, pulled when it was discovered that the popular beads were coated with a toxic chemical that metabolizes into gamma hydroxy butyrate, or GHB--the date-rape drug. Last week California filed suit against 20 toy companies, alleging that they had knowingly exposed kids to unlawful levels of lead.

The toy industry says it has learned its lesson, is retesting toys and stepping up its quality control. "This will probably wind up being the safest holiday ever for toys," says Carter Keithley, president of the Toy Industry Association. "There's every reason for consumers to be confident." Possibly. But as late as mid-November, the Center for Environmental Health (cehca.org) in California was finding illegally high levels of lead in toys that were on the shelves. Because of globalization, environmental problems from anywhere in the world can send dangerous products to the neighborhood store. Here's how to shop safely.

Read the whole story: Newsweek

Comments

[Krackonis]

Well I would go with Made in Canada. Cause Made in the USA means you are supporting fascists and warmongers.

Of course if you live there, I suppose you can support whomever you like. I hear Prescott Bush did...

[Krackonis]

Perhaps move to a country which protects the citizenry from greedy corrupt corporations who sell poison to children.

Maybe THAT is what you should do.

Don't worry every other country which speaks english, besides the US does that.

[therealredstateblues]

We are now seeing the real costs of offshoring our production to china and other low cost countries.

The whole idea behind globalization and "free" trade is to maximise profits by cutting corners on quality, safety and labor.

We now see the reasons for the regulations in the first place because the "invisible" hand of the free market can not be trusted to police itself.

We need to stop this insane race to the bottom.

Its not worth saving the couple bucks at Walmart when it comes to sacrificing your own or your children's safety, or your neighbors job.

Sure you might save 17 cents on your toothpaste and you get the added benefit of it not freezing when they turn off your heat because your job went offshore.

[ChiGuy]

I'm not normally one to push this, and the proof would be in knowing that 2 of the last 3 cars I have owned were Japanese, as are most of my home electronic components.
But when it comes to providing for the safety of children, the safer answer is quite simple: "Made In U.S.A."

[ExposingCommunists]

LOOK FOR "MADE IN USA!" DUH!

The Chinese don't care. They steal our patents and designs and then counterfeit everything selling us JUNK.

How long does a Chinese-made product last? Most of the cheap goods break down and sometimes don't work after a few uses.

EVENTUALLY MOVE ALL FACTORIES OUT OF CHINA and move them to our hemisphere. Give us back our jobs and even move some factories to MEXICO SO MAYBE IF THEY HAVE JOBS THERE, THEY WON'T COME HERE! Factory owners look for cheap labor and I'm pretty sure a Mexican can make Nike's just as good, or better, than the Chinese. Let's help our own North, Central, South AMERICANS.

Isn't it cheaper to ship goods across the Rio Grande than it is to ship them across the Pacific?

[wired]

"How to shop for safe toys"? Why not look into what people in your home city/town may produce. Oh, more expensive? Maybe less toys, with quality, is more.

This applies to anything you buy. Maybe, you can make things yourselves. It will only add to the quality of your lives.

I love making and giving things I made myself... and also receiving more personal handmade presents.

[darker]

From what I've experienced, ALL PRODUCTS from China should be BANNED IMMEDIATELY.

It's not just the toys and poisoned pet food. There's the lead, anonymous chemicals, and questionable quality of materials, for starters.

I just threw out a muffin pan MADE IN CHINA. It's "stick free" shiny surface coating came off and stuck to the food! Nobody knows what this coating is made of. US Gov't no longer inspects ANYTHING.

A piece of furniture that's self-assembled, made in China, actually had an enclosed sheet warning to rinse your hands after assembly because the PARTS MAY CONTAIN LEAD!

Why the hell are we still importing this poisoned garbage from China and selling it here?