A friend of mine sent me an email about my previous post and I thought it was worthy of sharing here and responding to since her concerns are very valid.
Do you know if there is any focus on what the replacement materials will be? If the phthalates were in the toys for a specific purpose – to make them more pliable and less likely to crack/break or whatever, isn’t another synthetic material going to have to be used in its place? Particularly for the toys that fulfill the market demand for the cheapest toys possible (found at dollar stores and Walmart)? And who is going to decide what that material will be? I saw the “green” plastic toys on your blog (and that tea set is so adorable by the way) which are great for families that make it a priority to buy quality toys, but I feel like most people in this country are now (unfortunately) used to buying a cheap plastic tea set at Walmart for $4.99… and for this market are companies going to have to find another cheap synthetic material (that is not banned by this bill) to meet the demand that is out there for cheap toys. And will it be tested? Or will the kids be the test market again? Maybe the companies need specific guidelines from actual scientists on what to put in their plastics (say, whatever formula that green toys company is using), which in turn will make the toys more expensive, and some people will just have to buy fewer toys? These are just things I wondered about as I read that article. I haven’t done a lot of research on this topic, so I don’t know much about it.
Do you know if there is any focus on what the replacement materials will be?
No I don’t. But it seems highly likely that any replacement should be presumed not safe until proper tests are conducted. Case in point, DuPont has made a new Teflon that doesn’t contain the hazardous PFOA, but does contain a chemical cousin that we know very little about. Is it safer? Probably not. Ignorance is bliss after all and until research deems the new chemical dangerous, we are encouraged to assume it is safe.
In the case of lead, there are safe paints that do not require lead. Plastics can also be colored without the use of lead. Lead products are just cheaper. So there are safe ways to avoid lead. As for the phthalates, I don’t know. But it’s my understanding that Europe has already banned these phthalates so perhaps they aren’t as necessary as the plastic makers would have you believe.
And who is going to decide what that material will be?
As of now, I believe it’s the chemical companies. They can use any chemical they want in their plastics and our government will do nothing to stop them until after the evidence piles up that the new chemical may not be safe. See my post on the Kid Safe Chemical Act for more info on our inadequate regulation of new chemicals.
And will it be tested? Or will the kids be the test market again?
No. And sadly, yes.
I feel like most people in this country are now (unfortunately) used to buying a cheap plastic tea set at Walmart for $4.99
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, particularly as we packed up our house to move. I noticed that easily 1/3 of what we had to pack was toys and baby products–bouncy seats, swings, exersaucers, pack n’ plays, train tables, kitchens, and boxes and boxes of toys. How did we get to the point where we really honestly believed that our children need specific toys for each stage of development? Will a baby fail to thrive without a mobile? And a swing? And a bumbo, baby papazan, and jumperoo? Will a toddler be less smart than his peers if he doesn’t have blocks, puzzles, DVDs, trains, trucks, dolls, stuffed animals, cooking sets, various art supplies, balls, bikes, and floaties for the pool? Why are we as a society so obsessed with STUFF?
I think it would be good if toys didn’t cost $4.99! Then parents might have to settle for a few quality toys and children might have to use their imagination, or maybe even just go outside and recruit some neighbors to play with. When our house was on the market, we purposefully removed most of the toys to make the house look neater. At first I felt really bad for my boys. What would they play with? What would they do? We kept a few boxes of toys and my 3-year old’s pretend kitchen and that was it. Well, what do you know, but my children were just fine. In fact, the toys that were out got plenty of play time and when my 3-year old became bored of them, he started becoming creative! He put his stool upside down and sat in it, pretending he was in a boat. He sat on a pillow on the couch and said he was driving a tractor. He climbed under the dining room table and said he was a deep sea creature. I actually think the few months he had to live without all his toys were probably some of the more interesting ones for him.
…will make the toys more expensive, and some people will just have to buy fewer toys?
I personally think this wouldn’t be so bad, now would it? (see my response above)
