Another Melissa and Doug Recalled Toy IN MY HOUSE!

I am frustrated. VERY. I just wrote yesterday's post about our happy little wooden train contaning barium. It was recalled in Canada, where they have a much better functioning system of protecting their citizens from harmful products.

Now today, thanks to a reader, I find out that this is not the first Canadian recall of a Melissa and Doug toy. The first, was this recall of the geometric stackers. We have these in our house right now. Along with a few other stackers that I am looking at with newfound skepticism.

I really did like Melissa and Doug toys becuase they are wood. But I did worry about all that bright paint and that they are made mostly in China. Our local toy store owner talked about how great their quality control is, and I received a contact from them that was (of course) encouraging.

So I didn't get rid of any Melissa and Doug toys. I just decided I wouldn't buy anymore.

Now we have at least two toys in our house that my youngest has played with and put in her mouth, that contain barium.

Great.

What is barium? According to Wikipedia (this was the best source I could find) it is a chemical element and:

"All water or acid soluble barium compounds are extremely poisonous. At low doses, barium acts as a muscle stimulant, while higher doses affect the nervous system, causing cardiac irregularities, tremors, weakness, anxiety, dyspnea and paralysis. This may be due to its ability to block potassium ion channels which are critical to the proper function of the nervous system."

Okay. That is downright scary. So why have these toys not been recalled in the U.S.? Do we not have standards for barium? Can you say we need the Kid Safe Chemical Act, and CPSC reform?

Melissa and Doug, I'm disappointed. These recalls are a far cry from your safety statement:

"From day one, we’ve signed our names, Melissa & Doug, to every product we make. We take that signature seriously --- it’s our commitment to you that you can trust the products you bring into your home. As parents, every time we make a product for you, it also has to pass the test of coming home with us, where we enjoy playing with these same toys with all six of our children.

No matter how carefully we design our products, we believe there’s no substitute for TESTING, TESTING, and MORE TESTING. The key to assuring the safety of our products is not simply insisting our factories follow our instructions, but to go one step further and AUDIT, INSPECT, AND TEST, not only once, but at various phases of the production process. This is something we’ve always done.

Additionally, we specifically test our paints and coatings very frequently, to be sure our toys meet or exceed government recommendations limiting heavy metals and lead in children’s items. We have cabinets full of thousands of passing test reports, and these passing results have been verified by 3rd party independently accredited testing laboratories, considered by many to be the best scientific laboratories in the world.

Please continue to enjoy our toys with confidence, knowing that each and every time we design and craft a toy, we’re not only making them for you, but for our own kids too."

I guess the multiple tests missed the barium laden toys. What's next?

Thanks to Sarah for the tip!