Listen to the NLM Director’s Comments on Toys, Lead and Children’s Health. A transcript is also available. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/podcast/transcript121007.html

Although a child’s exposure to lead from toys is important to consider, new information from the Nemours Foundation notes how to monitor the safety of playthings during this holiday gift season — and adds some perspective about lead and kid’s health. First, the Nemours Foundation notes many toy stores and manufacturers are (and we quote) ‘buckling down on testing before the products actually hit the shelves’ (end of quote) this holiday season.

On the other hand, the Nemours Foundation reminds us that a child’s lead exposure usually is not from toys, but from a variety of other sources. These include U.S. homes built and painted before 1978, when lead was permitted within paint. Children receive lead exposure when eating paint peelings, or by inhaling lead particles in dust from walls covered with lead-based paint. In the U.S., all paint distributed since 1978 is lead free.

The Nemours Foundation reports kids also are exposed to lead from:

• Soil contaminated by nearby streets (from lead once used in gasoline). Lead in gas also is now banned, but residual effects persist.
• Some children’s metal jewelry. Often exposure is through the metal (not the paint). Sadly, metal jewelry containing lead often is inexpensive and is distributed in vending machines, or at discount retailers. This is also important to consider when purchasing inexpensive jewelry from street stands all over the world, including the U.S.

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