Civilization has come a long way from having to hunt or grow all your own food or make all your own clothes.
Now you just go down to Safeway for your burgers and the mall for your clothes.
Which is great and all, but does it come with a price (beyond the actual dollars, I mean)?
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall for Thomas the Tank Engine wooden toys. These trains are hugely popular. We have a couple. I've put them aside until I can remember when and where we got them and to see if they are on the recall list. It seems the paint contains lead.
Parents everywhere are angry. I can't blame them. Don't manufacturers know by now that lead is bad for kids? How many times has something been recalled in the past few months because of lead? More than I can count. Know what all the recalls have in common? All the products are made overseas, for presumably a heck of a lot less than they would cost here at home.
You can't feed your dog without worrying it might die from bad petfood and you can't eat healthy food without wondering if it's tainted with E. coli.
I think the big difference though with this recall is circumstances. Farmers can't control the weather that causes flooding that contaminates their produce, and while microorganisms in plaque rinse and salmonella in peanut butter is incredibly stomach-churning gross, it wasn't deliberate. Lead has been a known hazard for decades, yet it continues to show up in children's toys. Are we supposed to believe it was accidental? I would hope companies looking to cut costs will take a harder look at who they are using to make their toys.
In the meantime, maybe I can learn how to whittle and make all the kids toys myself...
Now you just go down to Safeway for your burgers and the mall for your clothes.
Which is great and all, but does it come with a price (beyond the actual dollars, I mean)?
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall for Thomas the Tank Engine wooden toys. These trains are hugely popular. We have a couple. I've put them aside until I can remember when and where we got them and to see if they are on the recall list. It seems the paint contains lead.
Parents everywhere are angry. I can't blame them. Don't manufacturers know by now that lead is bad for kids? How many times has something been recalled in the past few months because of lead? More than I can count. Know what all the recalls have in common? All the products are made overseas, for presumably a heck of a lot less than they would cost here at home.
You can't feed your dog without worrying it might die from bad petfood and you can't eat healthy food without wondering if it's tainted with E. coli.
I think the big difference though with this recall is circumstances. Farmers can't control the weather that causes flooding that contaminates their produce, and while microorganisms in plaque rinse and salmonella in peanut butter is incredibly stomach-churning gross, it wasn't deliberate. Lead has been a known hazard for decades, yet it continues to show up in children's toys. Are we supposed to believe it was accidental? I would hope companies looking to cut costs will take a harder look at who they are using to make their toys.
In the meantime, maybe I can learn how to whittle and make all the kids toys myself...
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3 comments:
I blogged on this subject several months ago, when plastic dress up jewelry was found to be lead-laden.
I don't get it either.
You did? I must have missed that. Was it around when M was born and I wasn't online much? Or that month and a half when we didn't have internet at all?
I have a solution...don't buy anything made in China. Both the Thomas trains and the contaminated pet food was from China. That makes me think that the US has little to no control over what comes in.
read my post here
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