Many parents have often wondered about children’s toys. Many of the popular toys contain toxins or hidden dangers that can harm children, and can cause disorders. What types of toys are harmful to our children? Are they bad enough to in fact take them all away and buy new ones? Are we just overreacting?
There are in fact a large number of different toxins that are put in toys when they are made. One in three toys have harmful toxins in them. Phthalates is one of those toxins. Phthalates is used in toys that are made of plastic; it helps in the softening process. Although it may seem harmless, phthalates can cause cancer in children, it can also cause disrupt in hormone systems, and even spur an early onset of puberty in children. (Boulard, 2008) Phthalates can be found in teething rings, pacifiers, also flexible plastic toys, (Fisher, 2012) and it is also found in sleep masks. Mercury is another toxin found in toys, it is found in a large number of toys, but mainly in bath toys. Mercury is bad for any one that comes in contact with a large amount of it, or even just a little bit of it. For children it can damage their kidneys and also their nervous system. (Boulard, 2008) Cadmium is also a toxin in toys, it is used in all painted toys, and also lunch boxes. Cadmium can damage kidneys; also it can damage the lungs and the intestines. (Boulard, 2008) There is also Bisphenol-A, which is used in the polycarbonate plastic, which is used for baby bottles, (Boulard, 2008) and also the lining of plastic food containers. It can lead to hyperactivity in children, and can also impair their ability to learn. Lead is a big one used in children toys. Lead can be in anything from painted toys to backpacks. It is in little hands love book, and also the Dora the explorer activity tote. Lead can destroy a child’s mind, when a kid has a toy that contains lead and they put it in their mouth, it can increase that danger. (Boulard, 2008) Lead is fatal to children, about once or twice in ten years in the United States. (Fisher, 2012) Fisher (2012) stated, “Lead disrupts the chemistry in the kidneys, brain and bones, which can harm bone and tooth production, and lead to learning disabilities, reduced mental capacity and kidney failure.” In some recent tests there were more than 1,200 children’s products that found different levels of lead in over 35% of them. (Boulard, 2008) PVC is Polyvinyl Chloride – also known as “The Poison Plastic” is another toxin found in children toys. This can not only affect your children’s health, but it also affects the environment. (Christensen, 1998) PVC is considered a potential human carcinogen. A human carcinogen is also knows as inorganic arsenic, which can be linked to lung, skin, and bladder cancer. The Barbie bike flair accessory kit has PVC in it, (McCormick, 2009) and the High school musical argyle belt has arsenic in it. (McCormick, 2009) If children have enough exposure to any of the toxins that are in toys, it can be very harmful to them. Even though all of these toxins are bad for our children, the three most common ones that we are concerned about are: lead, phthalates, and Bisphenol A. (Fisher, 2012) There was a law that was pasted by president Bush in 2008, that banned toxins in toys, but that was only six forms of toxins, there are so many more toxins that can be found in children’s toys. We just do not know what have of those toxins are, or what we need to look for to keep those toys away from our children. There is no reason why all of the states cannot ban all of the toxins that children’s toys are made of, just because there are no deaths related to any of these toxins does not mean that later down the road there will not be. We need to protect our children from all of the harmful toxins that can really affect them in the long run. There are also many other toys that can cause some emotional disorder’s in children. The Barbie doll, I know almost every girl had a Barbie doll when they were growing up. Some of them might even tell you that Barbie had an impact on her life. But did you know that there are a large number of girls out there that wanted to be just like Barbie when they grew up? They all wanted her popularity, and success, which to some girls that meant that they would not stop until they got all of it. This resulted in some girls having anorexia nervosa, or even bulimia, mostly because they wanted to be skinny just like Barbie. (Jennings, 2011) Medical sets, although they help children develop their social and cognitive skills, they can lead to always wanted attention. Some times that means inventing some symptoms of an illness, and it can also lead to hypochondria later on in their life. (Jennings, 2011) Tea Sets, although they are great for children to have their pretend tea parties, or pretend to drink coffee like their parents. It can often lead to children craving coffee later on in life. Coffee can actually cause nervous disorders, accelerated heart rate, and also hyperactivity. (Jennings, 2011) Toy weapons, have a significant effect on the way a children’s views the actions, and also the beliefs of other people. They can accelerate aggressive behavior. They can also cause children to have a lack of empathy towards people who are less fortunate. (Jennings, 2011) Computer games, playing games can often lead to debt problems, sleep deprivation, irritability, and also poor physical health as children get older. Playing games all of the time can lead to damage to the nervous system. It can also cause a raise in the heart beat, and elevate of anxiety due to the mind being in a constant fight or flight mode. (Jennings, 2011) Even though all of these toys can harm children in one way or another, there are still a large number of different toys out there that can harm our children that no one ever really pays attention to. For example, there are toys that can be a choking hazard, and can even cause harm or be fatal. Toys that have points, sharp edges, or even projectiles can harm children. Even the toys that have batteries can be dangerous. If our children were to get a battery it can burn a child for hours. Especially if they were to ever get them in their ears, mouth, or nose. There are so many parents that blame computer and video games because their kids are obese, when really it is just the lifestyle they have. Parents are too busy worrying about that, which they have not even stopped to think that the loud toys they give their kids can cause them to have hearing loss. Parents need to take the time to realize that some of the things that they get their children can actually harm their children later on in life, just because there is no sign of it hurting them now, does not mean that it will not hurt them later on in their life, or even hurt their children. Even though now there is actually a lot of change in our children’s toys, it does not mean that our children’s toys will ever be free of all of these toxic chemicals. Parents need to read what is all in the toy that they want to buy, if it contains too much of a toxin then the best bet would be to not buy that toy and try to find a different one. Even though there are a large number of different toxins that are in toys and bad for our children. There are also a large number of different toys that we need to also look for, that can also be harmful to our children.