Testing children's clothing for lead... is this really necessary?
By phoebs20
@phoebs20 (5)
United States
February 12, 2009 10:38am CST
I would really like to get the opinions of other moms out there with respect to this new law that requires all children's clothing to be tested for lead before being sold. Is this really necessary? Every time we turn around there is something else we have to be careful of. I'm all about doing the safe thing when it comes to my child but where do we draw the line. When we were kids none of these things were a concern and we all turned out just fine. What do you think?
1 person likes this
3 responses
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
12 Feb 09
When we were kids our clothes didn't come from China and, if they did, the manufacturers were doing fairly well financially so there was no need to cut corners in order to keep their businesses afloat. I also don't remember our clothes being as decorated as they are today. We had buttons and patches but not screen printing or fabric paint on our shirts and pants. My grandchildren have some very cute outfits that were made in China which cause me to be concerned. Their mother and I have no way of knowing whether there's lead in the painted images and designs or what those studs and sparkles are made from. I think it's better to err on the side of caution and so does my daughter so they're not wearing some outfits anymore. You just don't have any way of knowing without having the clothing tested yourself.
@phoebs20 (5)
• United States
12 Feb 09
I can see your point.. thanks for responding!!! The scary things is though... almost everything is made in China now. I get nervous anytime my son puts something in his mouth... whether it be a toy or anything else. I just can't believe it has come to this. I have some clothing for son as well that is questionable. Don't you always worry that you are missing something though... it never used to be this stressful for parents.
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
12 Feb 09
I agree completely and you can't even trust familiar brands anymore. I bought my baby granddaughter a plastic Winnie the Pooh keyring type toy with all of the other characters attached not long ago. It was made by Mattel with the Disney brand on it, too, along with "made in China". It didn't take long for us to notice that the paint was coming off of one of Piglett's ears from her little teeth! So, this toy isn't just dyed plastic, it contains paint that's coming off. In researching this toy based on the numbers on the back it originates from Frisher Price. So, there's three distributors of one toy. I took it back to Walmart and informed the Customer Service person of the problem and suggested that they pull the rest of these toys from the shelves but they were still there the last time I checked.
@sudiptacallingu (10879)
• India
13 Feb 09
I don’t think that is necessary…its just another way of wasting money and resources. As you say, where do we draw the line? And then we are actually weakening the natural immunity of our children and also blunting their survival skills. The more we protect them from situations imaginary and otherwise, the more we are pushing them into a shell…I would rather they learn to live with the practical difficulties and overcome them their own way.
@1111appleblossoms (169)
• Canada
12 Feb 09
It reminds of the song "it was a different world" by bucky covington. Everything our parents did when we were kids was 'totally wrong' by todays standards. I don't agree with all the testing and precautions, we did turn out fine. Why is it that kids today are so much sicker than we were, more kids have allergies and asthma than in our day. There's so many more precautions we're supposed to take now but it does seem that they only cause more problems and fears than they're worth. I love my kids but I also believe that exposure to some things is fine and builds immunity, it's the kids who aren't allowed near anything that eventually get sick.
