Espero que Lunita este bien.

Man, if it wher emy child, I would be angry, desperate and confuse all at once. Good to see that the gift giver did not hesitate to tell you about it.

It doesn't look good that the store won't take it back (being as they sold poison they should be begging to avoid lawsuits) and it shows the power is still firmly out of consumers hands, billions in global trade where profit is the only motive make for a very unequal match. You and the gift giver didn't stand a chance, at least though there are regulations on lead content (however much pro business groups lobby against them) Nita has some protection. Although that relies on you being able to trust corporate officers & govt. with choosing ethics over profit and those institutions incentivising an ethical approach.hmmm.
So no more painted toys looks like the smart move unfortunately.

yeah, not unless they are made by craftsmen known to us who can verify. there's no need for that risk, and as i said, the cost is too high for such a gamble.

thank you rafa. yeah...i find it very upsetting. i mean, i don't feel emotional at the moment, but it was a huge one when i found out. and the impact isnt over. this is going to change the entire way i think about toys for her. i mean...it's not that i wasn't aware of this happening...in fact, i've read about it lately. i just bought la novia a little black box from china for her necklaces and what not, its pretty, but now i'm stressed. it seems to not sit right anywhere all of a sudden. i think a lot of the focus as of late on china has a lot to do with the money people in the USA's body of power getting edgy about them, but either way, i'm uptight about these items now. i feel like i can taste some sour dangerous chemical in my mouth now, i feel afraid to touch things.

THE ERA OF FEAR!!!!

ah man. seems sometimes like someone opened up a hole in the september sky a fear years ago and ever since, there's all this bad energy running around. or was it just that i started paying attention to politics and news again at that point? dunno. soon i'll be totally over the edge. just foil helmets and unpainted furniture, no phones, no TVs, no meat, no preservatives, some fuckin long hair in the garden talkin grassy knoll and kahlil i'm on my way there. i won't last another four score, i'll be like brad pitt in 12 monkeys except with a grubby little family on a caribbean island somewhere. and not doing that weird thing with my neck.

Nez:

I think you probably need to out the store, on the web, if nowhere else.

We (I mean the pink folks) are quick to blame the Chinese for this (well, they are godless heathen sortayellows, wft else would we do?) when the reality is probably about somebody being told to shave a little here, cut a corner there to make Megatoy's bottom line better.

I trust your small one's health is good.

Those fuckers.

Wish I could be more profound but that about sums it up.

Lead! What assholes!!

Why wasn't there a public recall??? Isn't that illegal??! you should sue them!

"ah man. seems sometimes like someone opened up a hole in the september sky a fear years ago and ever since, there's all this bad energy running around. or was it just that i started paying attention to politics and news again at that point? dunno. soon i'll be totally over the edge."

well, you know what they say, "if you are not completely appauled then you are not paying attention." or something like that.

-lulu

p.s. since i have decided to hate brad pitt and angie, i shall resist commenting on how awesome the 12 monkies was.

Let's just hope that the children's books are still safe. I'm waiting for that to be the next hazard. Toxic glue or some damn thing will be found in the spines.

Man, Nez, I'd be pissed.

Have her checked out by a doctor to make sure her lead levels aren't elevated. There's treatment if she's had lead poisoning, the sooner the better.

I wanted to give a little kid here in my neighborhood a toy for her birthday last month..here in Mexico. There was not ONE SINGLE toy that wasn't a plastic, poisonous rip off fake barbie dangerous piece of shit. I literaly wan't able to find one single toy that I would buy for a small child. What ever happened to blocks? Or puzzles or baby dolls?

So sorry, Nez and sorry for Nita, too.

Abrazos,mijo.

thank you mamá, thank you my friends for your advice and good thoughts. gracias, todos.

poor baby, but you caught it in time and now you are aware, and that's the best, unfortunately, we can hope for right now. What bothers me is that as much as we vilify the Chinese over this, there are many adults and children in that country who doubtless fatal lead poisoning from working in these factories. We have recourse over here, sue the store, go to the doctor, but those folks have nothing, not even the knowledge. For all our outrage over this I haven't heard anybody discuss that situation. If we wanna sort this planet out we cannot forget the invisible people!

Sorry Nez, I hope that's not a misplaced rant, I know you're worried about your baby girl. I heard on the news there is a website where you can resource toys made strictly in the USA, perhaps that would give you some peace of mind esp for Navidad~

not misplaced at all. great points. :) a reader and friend sent me this link, too.

well I learned a lot about lead because of two reasons 1)mi madre teaches 6th graders and she was worried about the cheap necklaces all the girls wore that they also couldn't help but keep putting in their mouths so we looked into that and also 2)I read a study about lead in lipsticks and a lipstick I wore had lead in it! Most bright red lipsticks appearantly do because it makes the red look bolder and stuff. here's the report http://www.safecosmetics.org/newsroom/press.cfm?pressReleaseID=26

Basically it comes down to that the amount of lead that would be ingested from the lipstick, the necklaces, and probably even Nita's toy isn't hugely, horribly high. It's not like the lead paint they used to paint houses with from yesteryear. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/lead-in-lipstick/AN01618 There's a report from the awesome Mayo clinic saying that the FDA does do inspections and check complaints and that makeup isn't going to kill you.

Where it gets bad though, is that lead stays in your body and all the little bits add up throughout your life. Even little bits here and there when added up can eventually have adverse affects on your health. Just because you don't notice any bad affects now doesn't mean that lead isn't something to be avoided if at all possible.

So I think you're doing exactly the right thing with Nita being careful about what toys she plays with. You seem like the kind of person that when you know better, you do better, which I admire. But I hope I've been able to calm you down that little bits of environmental toxins here and there are unavoidable unless you want to not live (I'm still wondering what kind of radiation I'm getting from my cellphone...) The whole reason these toys are able to get by is because they are just a small bit over regulation for how much is safe. Yes that's still too much, and we should try and change the fact that they are using paint for childrens toys that has any lead in it at all, but it's not like she was eating chipping lead paint from an old house or ingesting massive amounts of lead dust, I know you would never let anything like that happen to your child. I hope for the best of health for you and your whole familia :D

yes, you make some good points, malicia mary alice. it's true what you say, some of it i know well, as environmental toxins are a rather morbid and regular interest of mine. thanks so much for the comfort and education. i still wouldn't wear lipstick with lead if i could help it. there's always beets! or kool aid! (kool aid is probably worse than lead ;)

Standards on toy manufacture are execrable.

I mean, lead paint isn't as bad as beads turning into date rape drugs, but still...what the hell?