Green Options » toxic toys

A Few Of My Favorite Things: Baby Products That Are Safe, Fun, and Eco-Concious

Allison Wolff — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 18:11:13 +0000

As of yesterday, I am the mother of a happy, healthy one year old girl named Emerson. In my year of motherhood, I have figured out a few things including what products I absolutely love and want every other mommy to have. We haven’t had to buy much thanks to our generous community of hand-me-downers. When we do buy, we do as much research as possible on function, toxins, and quality (so that we can hand them down someday). The following products are items that meet some eco criteria. All have made life easier, look great in our small space, or are loved by Emerson.

1. Born Free glass bottles

My husband and I are completely freaked out by plastic-even BPA-free plastic, particularly when heating it. We used only Born Free glass bottles for those middle-of-the-night expressed milk daddy feedings (thank goodness we’re not up at night anymore). We heated them in the First Years bottle warmer or in a pan of hot water (we’re freaked out by microwaves too) and had no issues with cracking. As an avid breast feeder, Emerson loved the stern sucking required from the flow-controlled nipple too.

2. The Svan high chair

This product is expensive ($250), but well worth the price given its look, quality, functionality, and long life. The Svan’s flexible design works as baby’s highchair and continuously morphs to fit “baby” through toddlerhood, childhood, and teenage hood. We live in a small space so it is nice to have a compact, nice looking piece of furniture in our kitchen and it’s easy to clean to boot.

3. Sophie the Giraffe

The word is out that Sophie the Giraffe is one of the most loved squeaky, fun teething toys ever. This classic French toy, made in the Alps with non-toxic materials is a happy distraction from shoes, electrical cords, and everything else nasty that baby tends to chew on when teething.

4. Natursutton All-Natural Rubber Orthodontic Pacifier

Luckily Emerson found her thumb early, but every now and then she loved to suck or chew on a pacifier. Again, due to our fears of toxic plastics, phalates, and BPA-full products, we found these fantastic natural rubber pacifiers, and Emerson loved them!

5. The Orbitz toddler car seat and stroller combination

We were given a handed down infant car seat. Given that our baby is huge, and now one year old, we started researching toddler car seat options. The first place we went is healthycar.org to see what the lowest toxin car seats were (toxic off-gassing in a small car compartment is a big problem). The Orbitz was one of two seats with a green rating, meaning it is made with the lowest amount of toxins. Next, we looked at a variety of consumer product ratings around the web and the Orbitz was a five star product from a user perspective on every site. In addition to being comfortable, convertible (it can go backward or forward and lasts up to 50lbs), it is the only toddler car seat I’ve found that fits to a stroller. We’ve always worn Emerson in the Bjorn or Ergo, but the girl is getting heavy and having an easy car seat stroller combo started to make sense. This is another pricey product, but, because of its many qualities, we’re going for it (well, OK. Grammy’s getting it for Emerson’s first birthday).

As a conscious consumer, I am thrilled to find more and more products that combine great design, quality, and eco-characteristics. I’d love to hear from readers what their favorite products are too.

Phthalates Used in Plastics and Beauty Products Can Weaken Bones

Susie Kim — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 14:32:12 +0000

We have been educating concerned parents about the effects of Phthalates here at Eco Child’s Play. Well studies now show that it is more harmful than what scientists have originally thought. According to Environmental Health News, Phthalates may soften and even weaken bones. “Phthalates used in plastics and beauty products can trigger bone cell death, finds this animal study. Phthalates provoke DNA damage that can lead to bone cell death”, researchers said in a study published by Journal of Cellular Biochemistry.

This study shows how a low-dose exposure to two types of commonly found phthalates has a profound effect on bone cells. Based on the results, long-term exposure to phthalates could have devastating effects on developing bones in young bodies and accelerate deterioration in aging bones. Estrogen deficiency is responsible for a number of bone diseases such as osteoporosis. For this reason, many are concerned about the effects of phthalate exposure on bone health.

Phthalates are plasticizers which are used to add flexibility to plastics. It has been the common ingredient in everyday items like food containers, baby bottles, and packaging for beauty products. Known as as a reproductive or endocrine disruptor; it is slowly being phased out by United States and European nations, but unfortunately, not quickly enough. Even more dangerous is the fact that Phthalates are used in a large variety of products including children’s toys. “Phthalate use is widespread. Phthalates are commonly found in household items made of plastics and in health and beauty products. Some products with phthalates include toys, vinyl flooring, plastic medical tubing, shower curtains and personal care products such as shampoo, hair sprays and detergents.”

Canada Health Finds Chemicals in Children’s Toys

Amanda Peterka — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:03:12 +0000

Apparently a voluntary ban on chemicals in toys isn’t enough to do the trick in Canada. A year-long survey found that three-quarters of soft plastic toys in the country contain chemicals founds to be dangerous…and banned in the European Union.

Does Disney Know about Hannah Montana’s Toxic Lead Jewelry?

Derek Markham — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 05:00:02 +0000

If a company that markets to children, Disney for example, licenses its name to a toy manufacturer, (like F.A.F.), and the toy maker makes the toy in China, using lead or arsenic or melamine or bromine, should that company be held liable for the toxic effects on children?

I’m disturbed at the flagrant disregard of our children’s health by big business in favor of increasing revenue through any means necessary.

Let me explain.

I read about toxins in 1 out of 3 toys yesterday. So I went to HealthyToys.org to look a little closer at the findings of their toxic toy rankings. At the top of the list of examples of Worst Toys was a Hannah Montana necklace.

Made in (no surprise) China.

The toxin? Lead.

406,510 parts per million (ppm) of lead.

Is my math fuzzy, or doesn’t 400,000 ppm also mean 40%?