[a stone gateway in
The Surging Wave Pavilion, Suzhou]
Just a Few examples of recalls of toys
MADE IN CHINA
toy pacifiers - nipple can detach from base = choaking hazard
band of watch contains liquid petroleum distillates
1 report of 2 year-old child biting into strap = irritation of mouth and throat
red wagon
small parts can break off: 1 report of child choaking
pool scooter - parts flying off: 9 reports: 3 incidents of facial injuries and bruising
Sesame Street Sun-glasses;
lenses can pop out = choaking hazard
girl's pendant: (sells fo $1.00) high levels of lead
Lead Poisoning is associated with behavioural problems, learning disabilities, hearing proglems and growth retardation.
Pokemon Plush Toys; may contain tips of needles
Bumble Bee Toys sold with Graco High Chairs and mobile entertainers;
26 reports, 5 incidents of choking, 1 incident of throat been scratched when part removed from child's throat.
toy fishing rods: high levels of lead
I started out thinking about doing a brief Post on the lead found in toy trains and the contaminated pet-food and the recent toothpaste scare, and in my search for a photo of the toy train found this site:
http://iparenting.com/recalls/toys_recalls.htm
When i got down to the end of the page, and 80 recalled toys (most of which are sold in dollar stores), i quit, and decided to simply put up the site for readers to check out for themselves.
http://iparenting.com/recalls/toys_recalls.htm
When i got down to the end of the page, and 80 recalled toys (most of which are sold in dollar stores), i quit, and decided to simply put up the site for readers to check out for themselves.
manufacturing complex in Hangzhou
Further, in light of the recent news report of children stolen from their homes, and forced to work in some brick factories in China, where they are starved and beaten, and basically treated like slaves, it is time to ask:
Who is minding the gates? -- as well as: Is our own crass comsumerism killing us?
Post Script:
Just a bit of interesting trivia: The most impressive construction in Ancient China occurred under the cruelest emperors, such as the Sui Dynasty Emperor Yang Di, who assumed power in 604, reportedly by poising his father. hmmmm....history repeating itself on a macro scale?
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17 comments:
Of course, when I was a kid we were 'tough'. Parents sought out dangerous toys as a means of weeding the weaklings and dumb out of the gene pool
You know I didn't really mean that. Interesting and thought provoking post.
Ian
Why couldn't they do a good a job as they did with the Great Wall of China?
That toothpaste scare is in it's 2nd or 3rd round now...last week they found counterfeit Colgate "made in South Africa" with misspelled words on the box, etc.. Colgate says they don't manufacture any toothpaste in South Africa...
Scary!
alan
those South African'sscheesh!...no, just kidding.
hi Ian,
yep, when i was a kid we were only allowed to play with matches *chuckle*...but seriously, we had toys made by my father, and dolls that my mother sewed clothing for (and later i sewed them myself) - but the point is, we had fewer toys, but they were not so easily breakable (that German enginering, oh my!)
Hi mon Kapitano, thanks for stopping by...but seriously, when one keeps in mind that China is one of the worst culprits for carbon emmissions, i have to ask? why are we not boycotting this junk?
hi alan; first cat food, now toothpaste; if i was one of those weird people who harbours notions of a conspiracy, i might think the the government of China might deliberately be trying to kill us all off, one way or another!
Let's look at this in historical perspective--it's still light years bettter than conditions for kids hundreds/thousands of years ago, with rampant infanticide, extreme child abuse, and child labor under horrible conditions.
Bad toys stink, but it's a sign of real progress!
-- david
You're funny, David! progress, eh? hmmmm, interesting...let's define "Progress"...
there was a report on the news this morning, and i think i heard that the numbers of children being held as slaves was in the thousands, and that is the ones they KNOW about.
well, anyway, thanks for stopping by!
cheers for now,
pj
Rampant consumerism may very well prove to be the downfall of our civilization -- we buy and buy without any sense of where these items came from or the resources and people they exploit. Thanks for giving us pause for thought, dragonflyfilly!
I have always been mindful of toys that could be dangerous, and I have always been called "neurotic" for it. **Ha!** Turns out now I was right all along.
Great post.
It seems like nothing is safe any longer. It makes you a little frightened just stepping out your front door.
paul
*josie* - well, there you go!
*puhpaul* - i know, what a drag it is, but this toy scare thing, the toothpaste and the cat food is really something that COULD be avoided, that's the part that really irks me.
The colgate toothpaste scare has reached us here in the tropics and we have all been duly warned to avoid made in africa and or made in china labels.
Thanks for the info provided on the toys.
Cheers,
Enid
Hi Enid,
thanks for stopping by...keep safe...
luv etc,
pj
It's terrible about all those toy recalls ... you think that with something that is going to be used by little people, they could take more care.
Anyway, about the song you suggested ... Leila ... who is this by ??
Thanks.
Take care, Meow
ok some of those things we have here and are now going to check them out im worried about the lead in those necklases thoguh thanks os much pj thats aweseome
Hi Meow, i will have to ask: does anyone remember who sings Leila, it goes like this "Leila, you've got me my knees Leila, i'm begging please Leila, won't you easy my worried mind"....then it goes into a long instrumental...i'm sure someone out there knows, oh i know who will, Godwacker or David Amulet, i will go over and ask....
Dear JIP,
yep, i'm sure lots of people have these toys. I saw a photo of a small kid on a blog somewhere holding one of those fishing rods, and the warning is that the led could be absorbed by the skin because there are such high levels in the paint.
About 30 years ago there was a big scare about red and blue coffee mugs from Mexico, which had high levels of lead in them.
What happened with the heart necklace was that the young girl was sucking on it and became ill!
i hope all is well and that you do not have too hard a time explaining to the kids why they can't play with them anymore.
cheers for now,
love and Light,
pj
Hey PJ, It's great to see you up and running! Great past!
thanks GW! by the way, did you get my info about "Leila"?
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