If lead in toys worries you, well…
When I saw the blurb advertising this piece on a local news station, I went into freak out mode. Freak out mode usually consists of me researching the topic to extensive lengths. And I when I say extensive, I mean ridiculous. I also mean talking about it with my hubby, the cashier at CVS and if she would stop long enough, my mail woman. I believe knowledge is power and for a situation like this, well? You need some power.
When the recent hoopla over lead in toys began, I was slightly concerned, but more so annoyed. My boys aren’t putting items in their mouths anymore and what they did a few years ago is completely out of my control. So sure, I chided myself to become more vigilant in my toy buying, but for the most part shrugged it off.
Now I hear about lead in something that is DESIGNED to make contact with my kids’ mouths and I am angry and worried. I’d like to keep the “not gonna happen to me” attitude, but then the voice of “it might- you never know” speaks up.
Am I the only one who wasn’t aware of the fact that a lot of dinnerware has unsafe levels of lead in them? And as time passes and that steak knife scratches the glaze off the plate or the plate is microwaved the lead is released in even greater levels. Comforting, huh?
If you think I might be obsessing over this a bit much, well you are probably right. But read this from the CDC and tell me my fears are not founded!
Now that I hopefully have you concerned, or at least interested enough to be thinking about it, what are we to do?
The first think I plan on doing is heading over to my local hardware store and picking up a few testers. My dinnerware is on it’s way out the door anyway, as it seems to be diminishing piece by piece month by month. My replacing them has been a low priority on my list,though. However, if these babies test positive for lead you can bet your bottom dollar it will be shooting up to number one on the list.
Now I am in research mode of what to buy. I mean, I don’t want to get more of the same. From what I have found so far, it appears that Ikea is a safe bet, along with Pfaltzgraff. Glass dinnerware is highly suggested and one of my favorite window browsing stores, VivaTerra has some gorgeous, albeit, expensive sets. I also found several other online stores boasting lead free dinnerware, although some aren’t dishwasher safe or microwave safe. With my family, that is not an option.
I also don’t want to shell out my life savings to buy new dinnerware. With kids, they are bound to be dropped on the floor before we get our monies worth out of them. I am green and want to be safe, but also practical and frugal. I am going to keep looking and if anyone has any suggestions, please leave me a comment.
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13 Responses to “If lead in toys worries you, well…”
February 20th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
The whole lead thing makes me crazy….I was a mad woman when it came about in the lunch boxes. For more than a year my kids have been using cloth lunch sacks…and I am loving it. They are easy to clean and much easier to store . So, it was a win win. The plastic baggies got switched over to the wrap n mats…also a win win in my book. But this? I have very little plastic in my kitchen, but having a toddler there is some. i mean I cant give him out glass freely, unless I plan on sweeping it up all the time! I have already made it a rule that if the kids use the plastic stuff then they are not to put it in the microwave, but that was more for plastic leaching then lead issues….so do I need to test my glass dishes too?
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February 20th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Wow crazy. I feel that there will always be something somewhere with something. I try not to fret on things like this too much but I do pay attention when something affects me. I use Correll and that’s it….my folks have been using them for the last oh say 10 or 15 years…I’m alive so far. I don’t have really any other kind of dishes in my house…I try to stick with the basics. I have, however, stopped letting Caleb get those little toys out of the $.25 machines.
Crazy crazy!
Lyns
February 20th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with my Pfaltzgraff set when I break down to get new dishes and have found tons of Pfaltzgraff discontinued patterns on Ebay (which is where what I have is going to go). That would be more economical if you want to get an entirely different set, even if it’s not “new”.
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February 20th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
I’m the kind of person that doesn’t watch a lot of news because I hate being in a constant state of panic. But thank goodness I read blogs like yours, from mothers who do their research. I’d be TOTALLY clueless otherwise! Thanks for such good information, Boogiemum. I think I’m gonna go look into that glassware now…
February 21st, 2008 at 11:45 am
[…] Original post by boogiemum - my recycled thoughts… […]
February 21st, 2008 at 11:47 am
[…] Original post by boogiemum […]
February 21st, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Thanks for the heads up!
I was thinking of getting new dishes soon- I guess I’ll need to be careful.
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February 22nd, 2008 at 10:19 am
Oh my goodness! I’m sending this to everyone I know.
February 23rd, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Man… is this what it’s coming to? We need to buy lead testers to test our household goods? I’m worried as to what’s going to happen now that they’re talking about importing foods like wheat. Very scary.
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March 3rd, 2008 at 8:38 am
I was so glad my children were past the putting toys in their mouths, but now this. I will definitely stop shopping at $1.00 stores for stuff.
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March 4th, 2008 at 6:57 am
[…] brings to light a potential lead danger lurking in all of our homes: the dishes in our kitchens. Yes the very ones that we eat dinner off […]
March 20th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
[…] poll way down there? Keep going. Yup. There. The one about water. I have gone from thinking about lead in my dinnerware to thinking about the water in my kid’s cups. I am not trying to turn into an alarmist, I […]
July 6th, 2008 at 4:06 am
It is amazing where lead is. I think that it is just so hard for us to go through all of our stuff and make sure it is lead free. I think that there is not much that we can do about it, and that maybe we should just not worry about it so much.