My world is clean and green! What about yours?

My world is clean and green! What about yours?

Biting irony, isn’t it? Now we have to protect our babies and ourselves from deadly industrial chemicals. At first was lead found in children’s toys, then melamine in pet food. This time baby’s formula is “enriched” with the same dangerous chemical.  What are these two chemicals that attracted the whole world’s attention?

  • Lead is  a poisonous metal. It can damage the brain and other parts of the body. Anybody can be exposed to this toxic metal. There is no safe age to be exposed to it. You or your children can eat or drink lead contaminated food or water. You can be breating dust containing lead or it can come in contact through your skin. As the experts say, lead is the most harmful to children especially those younger than age 3 because it can permanently affect their growth and development. If a pregnant woman is exposed to lead, she can pass it to her unborn child (fetus). Lead can be passed to a baby through the mother’s breast milk.
  • Melamine is a nitrogen containing molecule that has several industrial uses. In some parts of the world it has been used as a FERTILIZER.  In other countries melamine and polyacetal formaldehyde based resins are used as ADHESIVES in plywood, surfacing coatings and molding compaunds. Can you imagine the strenght of these ingredients? Consumer First Aid and Health Information (www.emedicinehealth.com) reported, animals that have been fed with melamine-tainted food made from Chinese ingredients may be present in fish, pork and poultry. FDA says that health risk to humans is low. How health risk to humans can be low if this chemical has been used as fertilizer in agriculture and adhesives are part of construction materials? It doesn’t make any sense, does it? Obviously FDA can play its card by telling the American public that melamine isn’t registered fertilizer in the U.S. Another irony of fate. So, why we still have here food products with added melamine, which is another myth created by Chinese suppliers who try to insure the world that this toxic ingredient (melamine) is high in nitrogen and can artificially boost protein content.  You don’t need this artificial boost of protein. You can safely get your protein content by eating natural, whole foods.

So, Moms and Dads think twice before you buy “Made in China” toys for your kids or any other products produced there. The list of not safe Chinese products can go from powdered milk to tainted toothpaste, medicines, toys, pet food ingredients that killed and sickened people and animals in North and South America. These two facts that can tell you a lot and put you on alert:

  • Recently the world was in shock. Now it is happened again. The dangerous chemical used in production of plastics, melamine, was found in pet food. Today it is present in baby’s milk.
  • In August 2007 841 stores of Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us and 66 in Canada stopped selling lead-tainted bibs made in China with fancy names Koala Baby, Especially for Baby, Disney Baby. Do you want your children to wear the bibs “Especially for Baby” with lead? Of course, not! At least we hope that after recall of a million bibs the manufacturing companies disposed toxic bibs safely and retailers did not wait until some kids will chew on them.

Julie Vallese, a spokewoman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission said, “I thought the action by Toys “R” Us was just the latest in a string of bad news about toxic toys, bibs, the toothpaste, who can we trust?” Good question!

Do you remember your wooden cubes, blocks, trains, cars and dolls that you played with as children? Where are these great, natural wood toys today? They are replaced with cheap bright plastic toys tied with some movie, Disney images or cereal character. If you’ll walk through the toy department of a big box retailer like Toys “R” Us, you’ll see hundreds of the toys on the shelves. Look for the country of origin of these toys. All are MADE IN CHINA. Where are the toys produced outside of this country? Where are the toys MADE IN USA? I did not find too many. Here are seven ways to buy and use the toys for your children that made in compliance with the U.S. product’s safety standards:

  • Never buy low in price and poor in quality Chinese toys. Rule of a thumb: Buy less than more. You’ll be able to afford buying more expensive, high quality toys. What is the reason to buy cheap if these toys are not safe and don’t last more than a week because of poor quality and possible danger that comes with it?
  • Spend more money and buy good quality, natural toys for your children produced by small manufacturers in the USA and several European countries. These toys are designed with love and tradition to foster your child’s imagination; to improve and make easier his learning process, especially to master his math and language skills, and develop his intellect through his play with safe, simple and smart toys.
  •  Don’t let your children to “tongue test” their toys. As you know many of the toys are always wind up in childrens’ mouth. They taste the toys like we, adults, taste the food. Wash the toys before you give them to your child, even if they are natural and decnt quality.
  • Never leave your children alone with any toy and monitor his play. You and your child will be safe and healthy.
  • Avoid giving your child  to play with the plastic toys. There is no guarantee that these toys don’t contain lead, melamine or other dangerous chemicals.
  • Don’t use any vinyl bib. It may  contain lead or other chemicals like melamine. So, instead of saving time on the laundry task, you can wind up in a hospital’s emergency room because your child can breath in lead or get sickened by chewing his bib.
  • Look for natural toys not made in China at www.nmctoys.com the site that is founded and maintained by Mom and Dad who did their research and now can share with you.

Lately food and product safety scandals have been a scarry feature of Chinese life. It all started last year when exports of pet food, medicine and other products brought irreversible harm to people and animals on the American continent. Now is another scandal on the Chinese soil this time. 53,000 children become sick after given the baby formula contaminated with the chemical melamine. Media reported that 4 kids died, other suffer from kidney stones and kidney failure. In recent weeks 13,000 children two years old and younger hospitalized. Some are in serious condition.

Chinese News Agency Xinhua reported that a deadly chemical melamine was found not only in infant formula, but in other milk products. Dairy manufacturers added melamine after the milk was purchased from farmers who are also “genius” with business ideas. Some raw milk suppliers in China may have added water to their milk in order to increase volume and make more profit.  Then dairy manufacturer add melamine as another “innovation.” As Xinhua investigators concluded, melanine is byproduct and used to produce plastics, but can be used to mimic high-protein additives too. These products are produced by 22 China’s dairy products companies, including Sanlu Group Co, China’s biggest manufacturer of powdered milk. It comes as result that today China’s Food and Drug Agency, country’s product quality and safety watchdog, doesn’t apply strict monitoring of the industry. The World Health Organization demanded China’s Food and Drug Agency to apply stricter monitoring of the industry, consumer life depends on. So, what we’ll do with Chinese imports that run from liquid milk to instant coffee mix, and milk based candies, tainted toothpaste, toys, bibs, pet food and many plastic products and what else more you can find in the Chinatown markets? These products have been banned in Asia, they should be banned in the U.S.

I forgot to mention the pacifiers. I hope these tiny products are Not Made in China. Millions of infants grow up with pacfiers which are a part of their day or night activity. If this product is made in China, it can be dangerous and pose such a huge risk as the latest infant’s formula. And there is another important issue of our safety. If the industrial chemicals like lead, melamine and other toxics are added to the products for children, what is next? Should you trust Chinese sources in selling herbs, teas, vitamins and essential oils after these incidents? Until consumer’s confidence is restored, I am not going to buy “Made in China” anything for my family. My vote is for the clean, green world.

Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.

This great photo is courtesy of Bethany Stone.