Mis-Lead: Toxic Metal Continues to Find Its Way into Children's Products

Nothing says “sweet dreams” quite like a lead-laced sleeping bag.

Nothing says “sweet dreams” quite like a lead-laced sleeping bag.

One of the most upsetting things for me, as a first-time parent, was realizing my daughter’s first-ever sippy/straw cup contained lead paint. I’d spent HOURS looking for the perfect cup — one that stored her drink in glass (because of all the gross chemicals that leach into water from plastic); had a silicone straw (for the same reason); and yet was encased to prevent breaking if thrown or dropped. So when I discovered a cup from a “green” company that ticked all of those boxes, I felt like I’d hiked to the top of a parenting Everest. 

That bubble burst in a (not-so) glorious fashion a few months later when a friend sent me an article that confirmed the unthinkable: the demarcations on the glass portion of said sippy cup were done with lead paint. And the silicone straw? It contained cadmium. 

I was livid. Frustrated. Upset. How was this even possible? Isn’t lead paint — particularly for items INFANTS will come into contact with — banned? Would there be a recall? Was the company — which sold and continues to sell many of its products at Whole Foods — going to issue a massive apology, be completely ashamed, and explain away the matter as a manufacturing error? 

The answers astounded me: there would be no recall. Having lead paint on a surface infants and toddlers drink from is somehow still legal (there are certain restrictions, but they’re a joke, particularly when you consider the amount of lead that is safe for babies and toddlers is ZERO). 

Worse yet, even though the company (Green Sprouts) offered to replace the glasses with “paint free” ones for free, there was no real apology (and certainly not a recall). Rather, they explained it away as “within legal limits.” And I say again: NO AMOUNT OF LEAD IS “SAFE” FOR ANYONE, LEAST OF ALL SMALL CHILDREN. Even small amounts of lead exposure, particularly for infants and toddlers, can cause intellectual disabilities, brain damage, kidney failure and possibly death. 

Lead paint should have gone the way of dinosaurs, blast into extinction by the meteor of public awareness. But instead: it persists — presumably because it’s dirt cheap — and even companies with “green” in their name and mission continue to use it with reckless abandon.

Skip ahead two years. I’m at Walmart looking for a camping chair for my daughter when I stumble upon this adorable rocket ship sleeping bag from Ozark Trail (Walmart’s own line of outdoor gear). It feels soft, like cotton, and since my daughter is currently obsessed with all things pertaining to space, it seemed like the perfect purchase. I was trying to figure out what the lining was made out of when I instead found a tag indicating the sleeping bag (for some inexplicable reason) contains lead and “can be harmful if chewed.”

All of the anger I felt two years ago came flooding back. Like many three-year olds, my daughter still puts WAAAYYY too many things in her mouth, and the odds of her eventually suckling on her sleeping bag are pretty high. So while on one hand I’m grateful they at least had the wherewithal/legal foresight to mark the bag with this disclaimer — our sippy cup manufacturer gave no such notice — I’m still beyond upset that lead is still widely used in consumer goods, particularly those made for children. 

This. Is. Not. O. K. 

So how do we make it stop? We could storm the legal bodies that set the limits (namely the CPSC, in the case of consumer goods), but no one really seems to listen to anyone unless money is exchanging hands. And let’s be honest: whether out of necessity or simply the desire to save, the vast majority of consumers are more likely to roll the dice on a cheaper product, rather than invest in a more expensive item that has been rigorously tested and certified to not contain harmful materials. Such products do exist in some consumer categories, but they are cost-prohibitive for many families (infuriating when you consider lead shouldn’t be allowed in any products regardless of price tag, and no companies should allow it under the flag of “well, it meets [lackluster] government regulations”) .

So what is a consumer to do?

For starters, look closely at product labels. If it has a “contains lead” warning, don’t buy it. If it includes a warning about how it doesn’t meet safety requirements for the state of California — the state with the strictest regulations — don’t buy it. Companies make merchandising decisions based on sales. If we keep buying it, they’ll keep making it. If we don’t buy it, they’ll eventually stop. It’s economics 101.

And if you buy something with no such warning label that is later determined to contain anything unsafe: raise a stink. Call them. Write them. Demand they do better, and stop buying them until they do. 

Because contrary to many idioms, “love” isn’t the universal language — money is. And until we start speaking with our wallets, products containing lead and other harmful materials will continue to find their onto store shelves.

Water > Oil

10 REASONS TO SIGN THE PETITION TO STOP THE DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE (DAPL)

If you haven't already done so, please consider signing the petition to halt the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). Here's why: 

  1. Water is greater than oil. Without water, we die.
  2. The land the pipeline cuts through was granted to the Sioux People in 1851 via the Fort Laramie Treaty. This is their land.
  3. The U.S. Government has failed to make good on that treaty, and claims the Sioux People are trespassing. Let's say the land doesn't belong to them (though it does). One leak from the pipeline could destroy their only water source. 
  4. Think that will never happen? It just did.
  5. Think the government wouldn't approve anything that could potentially harm its citizens? Remember Flint, MI (where, by the way, residents still don't have clean water).
  6. Police departments from around the country have been dispatched to "defend" the pipeline. Many have refused to go. And U.S. military veterans have announced they will be joining the protestors in the coming days. In sum: This isn't a battle between police and civilians; it's a battle between right and wrong.
  7. The abuse must stop. On November 20, tear gas, water cannons (in freezing temperatures), concussion grenades and rubber bullets were used for hours against peaceful water protectors. Hundreds were injured, some severely. (Tear gas, by the way, has been classified as a chemical weapon and banned from international conflict - and police departments around the world - since 1993). 
  8. Time is running out. The day after Thanksgiving - the most ironic of days - the Army Corps of Engineers used this senseless act of violence as an excuse to issue a statement telling the Sioux People to vacate their camp by December 5 for their own safety. Those who refuse to leave will be held liable for any injury inflicted upon them. In other words: we've given you a taste of what we can do; leave your own land, or we will hurt you.
  9. There have been two petitions. If you signed the first one - which successfully prompted President Obama to temporarily halt the pipeline - that doesn't mean you've signed this one (whose purpose is to permanently stop construction). If you aren't sure which petition you signed, check this one out to see.
  10. The cliché is true: Those who fail to remember the past are doomed to repeat it. 

Still aren't comfortable signing the petition? Want more information before you do? Here's some history on the pipeline. Check it out, digest it, and determine which side of history you will be on: those defending clean water, those defending the pipeline, or those who do nothing. 

No Matter Who Wins, We Lose

Never in my lifetime has this country been so terrifying, so ugly, so very obtuse. No matter who wins November 8, we all lose.

One candidate because he’s a dangerous megalomaniac who built his campaign on a foundation of hate and refuses to comply with election results.

The other because she’s lost in the shadow of a pseudo-scandal that most people fail to comprehend (and frankly don’t even bother to try).

If he wins, we have failed as a nation. Because it means we're uglier than he is, and there will be no turning back.

If she wins, his opponent has already laid the foundation for civil unrest. His followers have quite literally threatened the election with their muskets.

And make no mistake: they have much more sophisticated guns than that.

I feel sad. Disgusted. Battered. Torn. This should be a time to excite, not a time to incite, but what started with Trump encouraging his supporters to punch protesters has turned into an all-out call to arms.

To say we’re entering into dangerous territory is to deny the obvious: that it has been dangerous for months, and grown increasingly so as more and more once-rational people turned a blind eye to serious indiscretions as they pieced together a weak case for voting for Trump.

"He doesn't mean what he says," they say. "You're taking it out of context," they say (even when faced with the context in its entirety). And to that I say: he has shown us, repeatedly, the kind of man he is. Which is to say: not a kind man at all. 

He was a known misogynist and racist well before this election even began. And yet you rallied behind him.

He threatened to have his opponent killed. Then imprisoned. And then admitted he might not accept election results unless he wins. He flip-flopped. He contradicted himself.

He has threatened to restrict freedom of the press – and accused the media of outright lies – despite all audio and videotape evidence to the contrary. And his numbers rose.

This thrice-married man with very public infidelities was caught on camera ADMITTING to being a sexual predator – and yet when women stepped forward to say, “Yes, it’s true, he did that to me,” it was as if you’d already forgotten how he lewdly bragged about grabbing women without their permission.

He’s promised to make America great again, but has yet to tell us what that means. What era will we return to? The one before women could vote? The one where black people had to sit in the back of the bus? Or will we roll back the clock to the 90s, an era without war but with ample financial stability – and our first President Clinton?

Because Trump has very publicly praised Bill Clinton’s presidency. There’s video evidence to prove it. Don’t believe me? Click that previous link. Still won’t believe me? Then you’re why we’re in this mess.

This is very dangerous territory, indeed. But it’s been that way for a while. We just feel it now more so than ever, with the election a few days away as we face the very real prospect of a very surreal future.

Is Hillary my first choice? No. Does Hillary have skeletons? Yep. Does she have some people donating to the Clinton Foundation that give me pause? Yes. But the same could be said tenfold for Trump and his foundation. But one key difference people keep forgetting: the Clinton Foundation has actually done some good in the world. Trump used his foundation to buy portraits of himself.

That’s telling. And if you don’t understand why – if you don’t understand just how dangerous it is to grant power to an egomaniac who has repeatedly demonstrated a quick temper but slow wit – then you haven’t read your history books. 

For the rest of us, the future is unsettling. Because no matter who wins, we all lose.

Trump has already made sure of that.

On The Issues – Quotes From Trump And Past Presidents

Trump Cat

Trump Cat

ON WALLS
"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." Ronald Reagan

"I will build a great wall — and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me —and I'll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words." Donald Trump

 

ON SERVING YOUR COUNTRY
"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." John Fitzgerald Kennedy

"He's not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured." Donald Trump

 

ON SAYING THINGS YOU SHOULDN’T
"I have never been hurt by anything I didn't say." Calvin Coolidge

"You know, it really doesn’t matter what [the media] write as long as you’ve got a young and beautiful piece of ass." Donald Trump (1991 interview for Esquire)

 

ON BEING A PARENT
"I’m inspired by the love people have for their children. And I’m inspired by my own children, how full they make my heart. They make me want to work to make the world a little bit better. And they make me want to be a better man." Barack Obama

"She does have a very nice figure . . .  if [she] weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her." Donald Trump



ON FEAR
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Franklin Delano Roosevelt

"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best [sic]. They're sending people that have lots of problems. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists." –Donald Trump

 

ON RACE
"If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong." Abraham Lincoln

"Laziness is a trait in the blacks. ... Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day." Donald Trump

 

ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
"We need not fear the expression of ideas—we do need to fear their suppression."  Harry Truman

"Nobody wants to say this and nobody wants to shut down religious institutions or anything, but you know, you understand it. A lot of people understand it. We’re going to have no choice [but to close down mosques]." Donald Trump

 

ON RESPECTING OTHERS
"Don't try to fine-tune somebody else's view." George H. W. Bush

"You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever." –Donald Trump, insulting Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly over questions she asked during the first Republican primary debate

 

ON COMMUNITY
"We need a spirit of community, a sense that we are all in this together. If we have no sense of community, the American dream will wither." Bill Clinton

"People love me. And you know what, I have been very successful. Everybody loves me." Donald Trump

 

ON RESPECTING DIFFERENCES
"If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity." –John Fitzgerald Kennedy

"Look at that face. Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that? The face of our next president? I mean, she's a woman, and I'm not supposed to say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?" –Donald Trump, regarding Carly Fiorina

 

ON FOOLS
"You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time." –Abraham Lincoln

"Sorry losers and haters, but my I.Q. is one of the highest – and you all know it! Please don't feel so stupid or insecure, it's not your fault." –Donald Trump



ON FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
"Absolute freedom of the press to discuss public questions is a foundation stone of American liberty." Herbert Hoover

“You wouldn't have your job if you weren't beautiful." –Donald Trump (spoken to a female reporter)

 

ON THE SHAPE OF THINGS
"We did not come to fear the future. We came here to shape it." Barack Obama

"My fingers are long and beautiful, as, it has been well documented, are various other parts of my body." –Donald Trump

 

ON LIMITS
"Recognizing and confronting our history is important. Transcending our history is essential. We are not limited by what we have done, or what we have left undone. We are limited only by what we are willing to do." George W. Bush

“You can never be too greedy.” –Donald Trump

 

ON CHANGE
"Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." –Barack Obama

“Everything in life is luck.” –Donald Trump

 

ON ENEMIES
"Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?" –Abraham Lincoln

“I don’t like losers.” –Donald Trump

 

ON FOREIGN POLICY
"The best way to enhance freedom in other lands is to demonstrate here that our democratic system is worthy of emulation." –Jimmy Carter

“My favorite part [of Pulp Fiction] is when Sam has his gun out in the diner and he tells the guy to tell his girlfriend to shut up. Tell that bitch to be cool. Say: 'Bitch be cool.' I love those lines.” –Donald Trump (TrumpNation: The Art of Being The Donald, 2005)

 


ON KINDNESS
"I want a kinder, gentler nation." George H.W. Bush

“All the women on The Apprentice flirted with me — consciously or unconsciously. That’s to be expected.” –Donald Trump

 

ON BREASTFEEDING MOTHERS
"You're disgusting, you're disgusting." –Donald Trump