How Lead In Toys Affects Your Child

The recent recall of millions of toys worldwide by toy-manufacturing giant Fisher Price and its parent company Mattel because their paint contained excessive amounts of lead has caused many parents to ask searching questions.

Lead can best be defined as a soft heavy toxic malleable metallic element; bluish white when freshly cut but tarnishes readily to dull grey. To be concise it is a heavy metal that is hazardous to health if breathed or swallowed.

In recent years its use in products such as gasoline, paints, and plumbing compounds has been sharply restricted or eliminated by federal laws and regulations. It therefore came as a surprise to many when toys from Mattel were found to have excessive amounts of lead since Mattel is known for its strict quality controls. The toy giant operation in China is often seen as a role model for other toy makers.

It was this strict attention to child safety and quality of toys that enable the company to detect the excessive amount of lead in the toys and to notify the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The commission works with companies to issue recalls when it finds consumer goods that can be harmful.

Under current regulations, children's products found to have more than .06 percent lead accessible to users are subject to a recall by the commission. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), children differ physiologically from adults, and the effects of lead exposure differ accordingly.

The CDC states that because of children’s small body sizes and their rapid development, they are more vulnerable than adults to the hazards of lead exposure. They further state that children between one and two years of age absorb 40 to 50% of ingested lead, whereas adults absorb only 10 to 15% of ingested lead.

Strict monitoring over the past 25 years has shown that unborn and young children can suffer metabolic and developmental damage from exposure levels, which were previously thought safe. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has lowered the acceptable blood lead level three times over the past 20 years, setting the current standard of 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood in 1991.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, lead poisoning is one of the most common preventable pediatric health problems today. Recently, the CDC has estimated that as many as 1 in every 11 U.S. children under the age of 6 might have elevated levels of lead in their blood.

High levels of lead can cause serious health problems in children. Lead poisoning can affect almost every organ system of the body, including: the brain and central nervous system, the gastrointestinal system, blood system and reproductive system.

Once ingested lead enters the bloodstream and is absorb by the various organs. Symptoms can range from headaches, fatigue, hearing loss, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea and abdominal pain.

It is therefore of prime importance that as responsible adults, parents, toy manufacturers and all concern that we are all extremely vigilant, in making sure that children are not exposed to lead. If your child has any of these symptoms or is at risk for lead exposure then you should see your doctor immediately.

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