What's Really Important With both Halloween and Christmas just around the corner, one commonality has become a national concern, namely toys. There are the costumes and all the accoutrements for All Hallows Eve, and the unimaginable amount of toys, decorations, and huge assortment of “stuff” that has become part of the Christmas Holidays.
It has been revealed in the past many months that many of the toys hitting the American market and predominately manufactured for American companies in China, have been deemed unsafe. Whether the issue is lead paint, lead materials, defective magnets or whatever, there is a black cloud hanging over the industry, and many parents are frantically wondering what to do. I will be making a suggestion.
The Associated Press recently announced, “Toy-maker Fisher-Price, parent company Mattel is recalling 83 types of toys -- including the popular Big Bird, Elmo, Dora and Diego characters -- because their paint contains excessive amounts of lead.” The worldwide recall involved some 967,000 plastic preschool toys manufactured by a vendor in China and sold in the United States between May and August 2007.
In June, toy maker RC2 Corporation recalled 1.5 million wooden railroad toys and various parts. They said that the surface paint on some of the toys and set parts from its Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway product line made in China between January 2005 and April 2006 contain lead.
CNN on September 5, 2007 announced, “The Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Mattel, announced a recall of 844,000 toys that contain excessive levels of lead paint Tuesday night - the third such recall of Chinese-manufactured toys by Mattel this summer. 675,000 units of various Barbie accessory toys sold between October 2006 through August 2007 were named in the recall.”
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, “Americans should expect more Chinese-made toys to be recalled in the coming months." (I’m not even going to mention the harmful pet foods and toothpaste that were imported from China!) I believe we are all aware that we are looking at only the tip of a huge iceberg, namely, those instances in which the products were eventually exposed as unsafe. We also know government attempts at regulating product safety of toys imported into the United States is nearly nonexistent. Companies are expected to police themselves, and it’s rather evident this has not been occurring with any reassuring regularity or competence. So the big questions remain, just how many toys are on the way to the U.S., in the warehouses, and on the shelves right now? And, what are the chances that any of them will actually be inspected thoroughly?
Obviously parents are concerned and worried, with some approaching panic (according to some news reports). With the holiday season approaching, just what products, especially toys, should they not expose themselves and their kids to? This is a very real concern. There is much at stake, the immediate safety, and future welfare of their children’s health. The short and longtime effects of lead poisoning, especially on children, is not a pretty tale.
I have a fix. 1) Don’t buy any toys manufactured in China PERIOD, 2) if not sure where it was made, don’t buy a toy, especially if it is offered by a company you already know has been recalling toys, 3) try real hard to find products manufactured in the United States (something becoming more and more difficult), and 4) whatever toys you still believe you need to obtain, don’t! Make your own toys if you have to, find substitutes for toys, and/or fill in with alternatives. There have to be some things kids can substitute for toys for just one Christmas season!
Yes, this really sucks! I was a kid once (maybe still am), and I loved the toys I got at Christmas! They colored my whole world for a time. I dwelled on them for weeks before Santa arrived, and I’d play with them for weeks after he had departed. Hell, men still love toys -- they’ve just gotten bigger and more expensive. I’ve heard of husbands who aren’t allowed to go to Costco if not accompanied by wife. The danger is too large -- so many toy-like objects, too much money in the pocket, and so many reasons to buy, considering it is Costco after all.
I understand how totally inconvenient and difficult this appears and just might be for both parents and children, but there are two very important things at stake here. The protection of children is the first issue. Lastly, a very clear message needs to be sent to companies here in the U.S. and China, and to both governments specifically, and all companies and nations in general. That message is, “Enough is enough! Get your acts together, and do it sooner than later! We are not going to tolerate this blatant incompetence and disregard for us as consumers, and this callous indifference for our health and that of our children, any longer! If you don’t want to find a way to change the way you do business, than we will make a change in our buying habits. Thank you very much!”
I realize that some companies would suffer, even though they haven’t done anything wrong. I understand that certain small businesses, and ultimately employees may get hurt, here as well as in China. But, when and where do we as citizens and “we the people” begin to exercise our rights to protect ourselves, and guarantee that the corporate world, and governments stop losing sight of the fact that this world is about us, and people in general? Business and government exist only for one reason – people. I could write several blogs on that alone, yet I’m not going to expand greatly on it now. Anyone not understanding the principle still has a very long way to go before becoming an aware human being.
Society is all about people, it IS people. Just because there have always been those who make “things” more important than other human beings, doesn’t alter the real truth. It’s not rocket science. Business and government were both created for, and by people, and exist for same.
Charles Dickens said it best in my second favorite quote of all time: "Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!"
It is unfortunately going to take some stirring of the pot to get the attention of government and business, and remind them of the “real” bottom line (people)! If some are hurt, the ultimate purpose is preventing much larger harm -- health trumps profit.
It’s near impossible, at least in the United States of America, to get large numbers of people to act in concert to protect their rights and their concerns. Obviously no large number of people can or will stop buying gasoline to send the message to oil companies that "you are making too much profit at our expense." No one can effectively not buy the over priced drugs manufactured and sold by U.S. pharmaceutical companies, but sold at significantly lower prices in other nations. Even our Congress forbids the government itself from negotiating for lower prices for Medicare. Heh!!!!
Perhaps the sacrifice people can finally make, considering the need to protect their children, and that one does not require toys for commuting to work, or for taking care of one’s health, is to not buy toys “as usual” during the very season that will send the strongest message to the business world?” I believe this offers concerned parents a viable option at the moment. If one is not sure a toy is safe, “just say no!”
I don’t know this is the best, or only answer, but it is the one that comes to my mind. I ask myself, "which is worse, a child crying for more toys this Christmas, or being unable to cry in the distant future because it’s brain has been irreversibly damaged by lead?"
For those interested in viewing the list of U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission toy hazard recalls visit hazardous toys .
The greed of the corporations is finally catching up with them. But wouldn’t you know it would be in an area that affects kids. Who knew the outsourcing of manufacturing to developing countries would turn out this way? Any thinking person I would say!
It took our country decades to get rules and regulations in place to protect our people from the greed and carelessness of those who would grow rich at our expense. But finally we were confident that clothes, toys, furnishings, food, medicine, etc. were produced in ways that kept us safe.
Not content were those who would grow richer and those in our government who support them. So here we are, back to the beginning. Lead in our children’s toys, poison in our pet’s food, and whatever we have yet to learn about other imports like our food.
Not buying China made toys or paying a little more for American made toys? Fewer toys for our children or possible brain damage to our children? Seems like a no brainer.
you're correct in saying these are only what we know about. like with the recall of millions of pounds of meat (not to mention lettuce & spinach & peanut butter) - what don't we find out about?
all this exposes the danger of self regulation. where does the buck stop? can't we expect name brands and major stores to take measures to insure their products are safe? obviously not. the FDA has been gutted and is useless. buyer beware...
when profit is the ONLY motive we all are in danger of the greedy. this holiday would be a great time to give presents we make.
It gets even worse Trish and heartfood. At the same time bringing pharmaceutical drugs into the country from Canada is frowned upon, many of the ingredients for pharmaceuticals produced in the U.S. are both not inspected, and imported from China. This is a transcripted video segment from Lou Dobbs Tonight on Oct 11, 2007:
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DOBBS: Coming up next: dangerous drugs. We just told you that the federal regulators haven't got a clue what they are doing in terms of food imported from communist China and anywhere else. Well, guess what? They are not any smarter on a host of other issues. The government, the federal government says now it is OK to import some drugs from China. You remember, they didn't like that idea of bringing in cheaper drugs from Canada. But, oh, you have got to love this administration and this government. They are a bunch of beauties….The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new generic drug made in communist China, even though it can't guarantee the safety of Chinese imports in this country at all. This is the first time in fact that a Chinese manufacturer has been granted FDA approval to export a generic drug to the United States. And, as Kitty Pilgrim now reports, China is increasingly supplying much if not most of the ingredients used in medications made here in the United States.
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Compliments of China, poison pet food, hazardous toys, toxic toothpaste, and now medication. Thousands of manufacturers in China supply about 50 percent of the ingredients for prescription and over-the-counter drugs made by pharmaceutical companies in the United States.
DARRELL ABERNETHY, U.S. PHARMACOPOEIA: And they simply assemble it into the final drug product, and that's what goes to the market. The drug manufacturer oftentimes really doesn't know either where many of those materials have come from.
PILGRIM: U.S. lawmakers are worried there's virtually no oversight of drugs used by Americans every day.
REP. BART STUPAK (D), MICHIGAN: Our penicillin, real basic staple in any medical field, that's all produced in China. Where is the oversight of the penicillin being produced? Is it the right potency? Is the active ingredients still good? These are really unanswered questions.
PILGRIM: The Chinese government admits its own oversight of the industry is full of loopholes. Last July, a former chief of China's state food and drug administration was executed for taking bribes to approve the applications of hundreds of untested drugs, some absolutely fake. FDA inspections at U.S. factories are unannounced and happen every two years. In China, the FDA's power is limited.
LYNNE JONES BATSHON, BULK PHARMACEUTICALS TASK FORCE: If an FDA inspector were to go to inspect at a Chinese facility, they have to be invited by the Chinese government. The Chinese government, in turn, gives notice to the local manufacturer, who has anywhere between 30 and 60 days' notice.
PILGRIM: Fake Chinese products have made it to U.S. store shelves. Last month, the FDA issued an alert to consumers about counterfeit Chinese diabetic test strips -- used by millions of Americans to measure blood sugar levels.
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How’s that for OUTRAGEOUS!?!?
The transcript in its entirety can be viewed at Lou Dobbs .
The FDA claims they do not have the authority to make sure our food supply is safe. That is odd since their Mission Statement says:
The FDA is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy, and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation. The FDA is also responsible for advancing the public health by helping to speed innovations that make medicines and foods more effective, safer, and more affordable; and helping the public get the accurate, science-based information they need to use medicines and foods to improve their health.
My dictionary defines” responsible” as: accountable, answerable, and liable. That sounds to me like the FDA not only has the authority, but the obligation to make sure our food is safe. People who hold management jobs in our government need to start managing and stop making excuses for why they don’t do the job they are being paid to do. And if they are not competent to do the job, then they need to be replaced with someone who can.
In the private sector people who do not do their jobs are fired. One of the jobs of the FDA is to keep our food supply safe and if they are not bright enough to figure out how to do that without having a picture drawn for every step, then they have no business working for us. We, the people, pay the salaries of the FDA and we need to start giving them performance evaluations on a regular basis and demanding the replacement of those who don’t measure up.
If Congress does not handle this then we need to bombard them with letters, emails and phone calls to remind them that they too work for us.
And why does the FDA think they have no jurisdiction over good coming in from China? Could it be that the organization is yet another one of those headed by someone without the competence and/or experience needed for the job? Could it be ideology? Could it be that they prefer the corporations to police themselves?
I have no problem with trading with other countries. At the same time, I expect goods I buy from other countries to adhere to the same standards I expect from goods produced by American companies.
Wait a minute. I need to think about this a bit more.......