Does Your Drinking Glass Contain Lead?
As many of you know, my middle son suffers from lead poisoning.
The struggles he has had to deal with have been a challenge. Knowing all the complications from lead poisoning has made me be very aware of where you can find lead.
It's not just in old paint. Or toys.
Recently, there have been some drinking glasses that have been found to contain lead. Glasses imported from China have been found to have up to 30% lead in their enameled logos. The federal limit for lead in children's products is 0.03%.
Now, you might think that it's not a big deal unless your child is licking that cartoon logo, but the lead can get on their hands by them touching the glass. Then, if they later put their hands to their mouths, they could get the lead into their system.
Don't forget about the recent recall of Shrek glasses from McDonalds. I had some of those glasses. Thankfully, they hadn't been used yet when we heard about the recall and I immediately put them out of my children's reach and then returned them.
If you are looking for drinking glasses, don't assume that just because there is some cute cartoon character on them that they have been tested for lead. Check out this video of a Mickey Mouse glass being tested positive for lead with a LeadCheck Swab:
I'm going to make sure that I buy drinking glasses made in the USA. Plus, I'm now obsessive about checking things with my LeadCheck Swabs.
Don't forget that just because a toy(or other item) has a brand name that you usually trust, it doesn't mean that it is safe. In 2009, Fisher Price was fined for toys that had over the legal limit of lead in them. Yes, I will be testing all of my boys' Christmas toys before Santa delivers them.
Think I'm overreacting? If you had a child who had lead poisoning, you wouldn't think so.
To stay on top of the latest lead news and to find out where you can buy LeadCheck Swabs, follow LeadCheck's blog, follow them on twitter, or fan them on facebook.
As a mom to a child with lead poisoning, thank you to LeadCheck for offering such a valuable service. LeadCheck is my sponsor to Blissdom, however, I would be telling you about them and talking about news concerning lead poisoning anyway because this is a part of my family's life.
Labels: lead poisoning, LeadCheck
posted by Shell at
8:01 AM
35 Comments:
I am glad there is a way too check.
I appreciate bringing this to my attention. It is something I didn't think much about before.
I hope your kiddos enjoy all of their (swabbed) gifts.
It is sad that so many companies overseas fail to follow our regulations. Even sadder that our government usually falls short on holding them to the rules until someone has been injured..
I feel you on this. My family is from Poland and lead poisoning is rampant there! Thank you for the heads up - I'm going to get some of these and test all of Jellybean's toys now!
It's awful that in a world with so much knowledge, businesses (and people)will put money over human safety.
Glad there is a way to check! It's crazy that their are companies out there that don't check their own shit before shipping it out!
Best of luck to you and your family - and have fun at blissdom!!
I don't think you are overreacting at all...our children need to be kept safe.
where can I get LEADCHECK SWABs?
thanks for the information Shell.
There are so many reasons we need to buy domestically. Lead poisoning is number one.
I cringe at the thought of all the cheap toys my girls had growing up before anyone was aware of the lead content in toys made from China. I only hope and pray my girls do not experience any effects in the years to come. I will be checking our drinking glasses now. Thanks again, Shell, for the lead tips.
I hope your son is recuperating successfully.
Oh my gosh! I want to get one of those lead checker thingys! Hubby's cousin is mentally challenged because of lead poisoning. I will not let that happen to my Sam!!!
WHAT! WTH??!! Can we not trust any company anymore???!! I am totally bothered by how rich our country actually is...and how little we seem to follow all the rules...just to pad their bottom line. It makes me sick! Are our kids of so little value?
Thanks for your post!! THis truly urks me!
This past week my mother in law was up visiting us and doing jewelry making with my daughter. She started talking about the crystals she bought that were beautiful but had been discontinued because they contained lead. She said "It's rediculous, all crystal has a little lead, what's the big deal?" I gotta tell you, your story about your son came right to my mind and I had to suck in my breath to stop myself from giving her an earfull. But I did let her know that I didn't want any of those crystals being used by my daughter. So thank you for teaching me about this!
how come so much crap comes out of China?!?
I am so sorry to hear about this. I know CA passed some laws about this recently.
At some point I hope protecting consumers can outweigh the demand for cheap goods.
It is so hard to not freak out over things like this. I try to my best to keep my kids safe, but knowing what you have and are going through, I want to step it up. Thank goodness there's kits like this to help us out.
Damn, that is so scary. I really am amazed at the number of recalls of late, and I am glad things are being "caught," I just wish it wasn't all after the fact. There has to be a way to do this sort of testing BEFORE The products land in our children's hands and mouths!
i dont think you r over reacting.. hopefully your advocacy will certainly help others...xoxoxo
No one could ever accuse you of over-reacting after what you and your son have been through. I'm glad there's something out there like LeadCheck to help keep more kids safe.
As consumers we should stop buying stuff from China. It would be better for our health and economy. Of course, in a few minutes I'm going to go shop at Wal-mart. I might as well just send my husband's pay check to China.
It's so ridiculous that we have to be so vigilant as parents to keep our kids safe. YOu would think that large, major companies would do everything in their power to keep our kids safe and earn our trust.
Wow. Scary...this just proves that you can never be too careful.
Wow, that's really scary! I had no idea cups could contain lead too.
Shell
It's the sneaky, the hidden that is most dangerous. When light shines on the formerly concealed - evil scatters. I'm glad you shined this light today. Thank you.
that is just horrifying! i work for a lead abatement certified company and i have learned so much its terrifying!
Every time I'm in a dollar store and I see all those cheap dishes and glasses from China it always freaks me out - I hope more people start paying attention, and then maybe stores will get better about what they sell!
After reading your post a while back I begin researching some stuff on lead and lead poisoning and let me tell you it is scary and sad and crazy and I am definately over reacting to it now I can only imagine how hard it has to be for parents of children with lead poisoning and I am 100% that any of those parents you included would do things differently if you had the chance and given that you don't I am so glad you shared your story and your information as another parent may be able to help their child. Thanks Shell!
The constant recalls are maddening. It makes me crazy that companies consistently fail to look out for the most vulnerable members of our society in their quest to produce cheap items. Thanks for staying on top of it.
Katie
http://practicalparenting.blogspot.com
Funny you would post about this today - I just got a letter in the mail from our WATER supplier that says that they have found high levels of lead in the water and here are some things to do (like run water for 20 seconds before drinking it) to flush out the lead in lines... Probably something I would have shrugged off before....
Can leadcheck swabs check water?
Thanks for this post and reminding me to be proactive!
I don't buy any cups/bowls etc from China anymore. I try to avoid toys too, but it's so hard! Anything painted, I'm very leary of. The lead check sticks are pretty awesome.
Thanks for this important reminder Shell. I'm going to look at buying some of those sticks.
You know, I have drinking glasses that were jelly jars. They're probably 15+ yrs old. They have cartoon WB characters on them...kinda still. I'll have to look at them more closely to see where they're from! Thanks for the heads up.
~Mimi
That is so scary! I'm going to go through my dishes now.
So scary all the things we have to worry about today to make sure our kids are safe and healthy.
You probably have already seen this, but in case you haven't....EPA/HUD has a brochure on lead poisoning in your home.
http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead/library/lead/pyf_eng.pdf
Just popping in to say nice site.
Just think about the meds that are made in China. Studies may show that the Chinese do better academically (they are only using test scores from Shanghai - which is a city full of private schools populated an education class), their concept of "quality" in their engineering and product development is far behind ours (information from a primary source). So, yes, check your glasses, but also ask your dr where your meds are made:)
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