Friday, August 24, 2007

Lead in Childrens Jewelry

Im very upset about this. My daughter has worn jewelry, 99% made by me, since birth. I bought good-quality Swarovski crystals thinking that was a good thing but apparently the better the quality, the higher the lead content. I read a little before and one site I read said you'd have to ground the crystal into a powder and have your child eat it to be dangerous. That made sense to me - or maybe I just wanted to believe they were safe.

But since all this lead controversy with the toys being recalled I felt like I should research it again....... They can actually get lead poisoning just from sucking on the crystals :( We've highly discouraged J from doing that but I know she has at times, had them in her mouth. (article)

So Ive pulled those bracelets from my stores and Im replacing any that I sold with glass beads which are lead-free (like cat eye beads).

Im so sick over this :(

J has a check-up next month and Ill have having all the kids lead-tested (for this and because we own so many toys from China). We also owned those vinyl bibs that were recalled from Walmart :(

*You can buy lead-testing kits HERE. Also check this site for recent recalls.*

Also stay away from pacifiers decorated with crystals. They are being recalled for the same reason.

*sigh*

3 comments:

rachelle said...

sheesh, I'm sorry...that's awful! We haven't had any of the recalled things so far, but who knows if anything is here that just hasn't been recalled because they don't know :(

Rachel said...

we had 1 of the thomas the trains that was recalled. my concern is that this is just the tip of the iceberg. such a HUGE percentage of the toys sold in the US are made in China and obviously the safety of materials used isnt regulated very well. anything vinyl can have lead, anything with paint that is made in china, etc.

part of me wants to do what some are doing and just get rid of it all and have a few, good-quality, made in europe, toys. :/

Green Republican said...

The recall hasn't hit us too hard because we don't have that many toys to begin with. They don't wear jewelry except for little stud earrings. Another good toy suggestion is to buy local. We're blessed to have the Pike Place Market along the Seattle waterfront that is full of local, handmade toys... Although, have I actually bought any??? LOL

So sorry to hear about the beads! :-( That really sucks. That is so nice of you to send replacements though!