Today as I was sitting watching my son play and surprisingly something that is so obvious struck me. We all know that all babies go through a period were it seems like every single thing they touch goes straight to the mouth. Without question like it's a primal instinct to do so and that is totally normal during this magical discovery process. However, more than likely what they are sucking on is not safe for them.
We all know of the obvious items such as toys, pacifiers, clothing, etc. Yes we all know and are aware that our children will no doubt put these in their mouth. However, most often families are totally unaware if little Johnny's toy is even safe. Most will assume the toy is safe since it came from a National department store and was a Major baby brand. If you take the time to actually look where the product was manufactured, you would mostly likely see Made in China. You would not believe the chemicals that have been found in toys from China. Chemicals such as lead, Chlorine, arsenic, bromine, mercury, and most recently cadmium. In 2007 Mattel alone recalled 21 million Chinese made toys in a two month period due to toxic chemicals in their toys.
The materials used in toys like plastics, paints, and fabrics are made up of chemicals, and may also contain added chemicals to impart specific properties such as rigidity, durability, flexibility or flame resistance. When children put these products into their mouths, some of these chemicals may enter their bodies. Some of the substances, which are not always chemically bound to the products, may also be released directly onto skin, or into the air that children breathe.
Because children's bodies are growing and developing, they are more vulnerable to the effects of toxic chemicals. Even small amounts of a chemical can impact a child's ability to reach his or her full potential. Children are exposed to toxic chemicals from many sources in addition to toys, and the combination of these many exposures may cause harm.
It's just not the toys that we need to be concerned with as well. It seems my son is always sucking on either his clothes, my clothes, or his wipe cloth. Almost all non-organic cotton clothing will have chlorine and formaldehyde in the fabric. If it says made in China on your label its almost guaranteed to be in there. They put these chemicals in their clothing to keep the fabric stain free and disinfected. Which might be a valid reason, but the problem is that formaldehyde is a carcinogen and is proven to cause cancer.
All of this can be avoided when you take the time, do some research, and buy Certified Organic Products, such as GOTS. You can purchase toys, clothing, bedding, food, pretty much anything is available organic these days. Does buying Organic cost more? Yes, but there are many reasons why. When it comes to cotton, Organic cotton produces smaller yields, thus costing more to produce. The advantage is Organic clothes are produced in ways that do not destroy the environment because they don't use pesticides and fertilizers. Which hurts the land and water supply, but that is a whole other subject. Here is a good example, the average large T-shirt from regular cotton requires 1/3 of a pound of pesticides to produce.
I am hoping that we all take a little more time to protect our little ones because they can't protect themselves. We look forward to bringing you some more FYI's this year.
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