What to do-doll rating on healthytoys.org?

[mum1day]

Nanna gave DD the Corolle Lea Multilingual doll. She loves it, since DD is learning Italian at school and Lea speaks 4 languages. I just decided to check out healthytoys.org and she was rated "medium" for PVC and Chlorine levels. I am SO bummed. I called FAO and they said I could return her, but I hate to do that since she loves her so much already.

Suggestions?

TIA!

[bubbaray]

How old is your DD? I'd probably air the doll out and hope for the best if it were for my older DD#1. I might be somewhat more concerned if it were for DD#2 (though only marginally so).

ETA: I just checked and I'm pretty sure that the Corolle doll that I'm giving DD#2 for her 1st b-day in January is the other Corolle doll with the PVC/Chlorine in the medium level. I'm going to give the doll to her anyway. Corolle dolls meet the EU safety standards, which are much more stringent than either the US or Canada's.

ETA#2: If you look through their brand listing, basically all the dolls with the plastic faces have high PVC/Chlorine tests. American Girl, Barbie, etc. I guess you could get a Kathe Kruse waldorf doll or similar, but frankly, unless there is a recall, I'm not spending $200 on a doll, KWIM?

[vludmilla]

I guess I might let her use it too since she likes it so much. I wonder if Brittone2 will respond because I think she knows a lot about the dangers of these chemicals. I'd be interested to know what she would do.
-Victoria

[mum1day]

Well, I'm pretty well versed on what to do, since I am very strict about what my kids eat, play with, bathe in, etc. BUT, it breaks my heart to have to take this doll away. I wish I had checked this site before I told my mother to buy the doll. I'm so MAD! Our ped would tell us to get rid of it, as I just took a seminar on chlorine toxins. Still...I might just air it out and go from there. Sticking her outside on a cold day for a few minutes might do the trick.

[kayte]

The reason we got rid of a fisher price doll and opted for the Corolle Calin is because I read it was pvc-free vinyl.....??????......

[brittone2]

I think 98% of the dolls you come across are going to be vinyl. That usually means that they have phthalates added to make the plastic smoother.

I don't know that much about Corolle. I've seen some sites that list them as phthalate-free, but then I think I read somewhere recently that might only be true of one or two of their babies that are intended for really young children. I don't know enough about them. I've been confused about that particular company myself because some sites say they are phthalate-free, but I don't think the majority are...but I didn't know that until recently.

Karito Kids are an American Girl style doll that are phthalate free. I saw a bunch of Gotz dolls at Tuesday Morning recently, and they specifically said phthalate-free on them (not sure if they all are, but these specified that they were). They had some large baby dolls (would probably wear 0-3mo. clothing) and some dolls that were smaller and styled more like American Girl ("older" looking doll). Cloth dolls are obviously phthalate-free. Beyond that, I don't know of any others for sure, but maybe someone else does.

The problem w/ phthalates is they are accessible by mouthing, kissing, etc. the doll so offgassing, etc. isn't going to eliminate that.

Phthalates aren't going to be recalled anytime soon, but IMO, that doesn't make them any safer. They are hormone disrupting chemicals, and that's been well documented. There's a good chance that if you allow plastic toys you have quite a bit of PVC/Vinyl around anyway, so it depends on how comfortable you are with that. It probably isn't just the dolls in your house, but 98% of dolls are going to have phthalates. If you use scented products (that aren't scented w/ essential oils only), most likely you are getting exposed to phthalates that way (hair products, air fresheners, perfumes, the scent in your detergent, etc.) as well.

http://www.ewg.org/node/25808

http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/121/fat

http://www.ewg.org/chemindex/term/480

http://www.ourstolenfuture.org/NEWSCIENCE/oncompounds/phthalates/phthalates.htm

Don't expect a recall or ban anytime soon. There is finally one in CA, but it took a long, long time. The plastics lobbyists have killed many a bill. They have so much influence and their pockets are heavily lined with $$$. If it is something concerning to you, I would find an alternative. I personally don't feel comfortable relying on a government agency to indicate whether or not phthalates are safe. Their party line is that they are fine, but digging into the research makes me think otherwise. Very much so. ETA: Confusingly, you also have groups like "The American Council on Science and Health" which is essentially a PR firm for the big corporations. They are funded by Dow, DuPont, Exxon, and many others. But their very "official" sounding title gets lots of press and makes it difficult for parents to know where their information is coming from.

edited again to say that unfortunately, the other consideration is whether those toys labeled phthalate free really are phthalate-free. There was a study back in 2005 that showed a bunch of companies that advertised their teethers, etc. as being phthalate-free were still putting the chemical in there anyway (the majority contained it, even after being labeled phthalate free). A followup a year or two later was a little better, but the claims still weren't 100 percent accurate (several tested toys still contained phthalates despite being labeled phthalate free.
http://www.masspirg.org/home/reports/report-archives/product-amp-food-safety/product-amp-food-safety/trouble-in-toyland-the-20th-annual-survey-of-toy-safety

http://www.uspirg.org/home/reports/report-archives/toy-safety/toy-safety-reports/trouble-in-toyland-21st-annual-toy-safety-survey

Some manufacturers make different toys for the US market (where it is legal) and the European, etc. markets where it is not. NPR had a segment that addressed this a month or two ago.

[JoyNChrist]

I would let her keep it.

Granted, I'm not the most well-educated person when it comes to the dangers of plastics and things like that. I prefer well-made, safe toys for my son, but I'm not super-strict about it. So you may not want to use my advice.

But my opinion is it's all about quality of life. When I'm choosing something for DS, I try to weight the enjoyment he'll get out of it against the possible dangers. If I think he'll absolutely love it, I figure that the experience of playing with it will give him so much joy, it will outweigh any possible danger that could come from playing with the toy.

There are always dangers out there, and there are always things to be worried about. I guess I think about it like this - when I was in middle school, I decided that I wanted to try out for the volleyball team. My mother let me, and I made the team and fell in love with the sport. I played all through high school, and I was the team captain who led my team to the state playoffs my senior year. I even got a small scholarship to play at college. My freshman year of college, I went up for a block and came down wrong on my right ankle. I tore all the ligaments and had to have two surgeries to repair it. I still have problems with that ankle to this day.

Now, my mother knew when she let me try out for the team that there was a potential to injure myself playing sports. Does that mean she shouldn't have let me play? I don't think so, because the fun I had and the lessons I learned while playing for all those years outweigh even the pain of the injury.

I realize that it's not the same situation (toys vs. sports), but that's something I try to think of and remember when buying and receiving gifts for DS. At some point, everyone has to figure out what their ideal environment is, but then they have to decide what they're actually willing to live with. For me, I'm willing to make certain sacrifices for safety if it makes my son really happy. For example, my mother bought him this Playskool ball-popper thing for Christmas. It's plastic, noisy, and MIC, which are usually all things I try to avoid. But he LOVES this thing. The entire time it's on, he just laughs and laughs and claps his hands. And he loves to chase after the balls when they pop out of the track. So we're keeping it. Plastic and noise and all.

From the sound of things, your daughter really loves this doll, and playing with her will even be educational (because of the languages). If it were me, I'd let her keep it.

(This is just all my honest opinion. I don't think you're a bad mom whatever you decide to do with the doll, and I think it's great that you're so concerned about your child's safety.)

[Piglet]

Well said!!

[brittone2]

I think you make great points, JoyNChrist. As I've mentioned before, I'm someone that has gone through infertility issues. For me, one consideration in quality of life issues for my family is plastics/industrial chemicals. Since phthalates, BPA, etc. are associated with decreased sperm count, and in the case of BPA with insulin resistance, that factors into my personal weighing of quality of life issues for my family.

Having gone through infertility issues, and dealing w/ PCOS/insulin resistance (IR has been linked to BPA), I consider the possible long-term consequences of exposure to those products as impacting quality of life for my children. DD is at increased risk of dealing w/ PCOS/Insulin Resistance because of her genetics. DS, even though he's a male and isn't going to get PCOS, may still be genetically prone to insulin resistance because of my genes. So if I can do things to reduce the chances they'll have of being exposed to chemicals that have been linked to an increased risk of IR and infertility, I'd like to try. I know it isn't a guarantee, and we can't avoid all of it, but we try to reduce our exposure.

I guess in my view, my kids aren't necessarily giving up quality of life because they don't play with certain plastics. They adore their toys and their play is rich and wonderful. I'm sure most kids adore their toys, plastic or not, and have rich and wonderful play. But I don't think avoiding certain products adversely impacts my kids' enjoyment of life whatsoever.

It all goes back to each of us weighing things differently for our families. My own experiences w/ infertility, and a health issue that may be linked partly or largely to hormone disrupting chemicals, causes me to weigh things differently than someone else might. We don't buy vinyl dolls, but we have vinyl floors in our house that were here when we moved in, and we can't afford to replace at this point in time. So it isn't entirely escapable, even though I'm pretty concerned about it and work to avoid it where I can. But for us, reducing our exposure where we can makes sense.

[mum1day]

Ironically, I just took a seminar offered by our doctor on plastics, chlorine, etc. It was eye opening, even for me--who is pretty well educated in regards to these matters. I am very strict that my children not play with plastics, so that's why I am on the fence so much about this doll. It's such a shame, because my DD is in love with her.

Beth, I appreciate your thoughts. I also appreciate everyone's opinion on the doll. I will have to remind my daughter of things like this when she hates me in her teens...

[brittone2]

Ironically, I just took a seminar offered by our doctor on plastics, chlorine, etc. It was eye opening, even for me--who is pretty well educated in regards to these matters.


Ummm...how cool is your doctor? Seriously!

[mum1day]

Yeah, SERIOUSLY--THE BEST! They started taking my kids too, which makes me thrilled to pieces. She's the best doctor in town! She's all about my own philosophy, which makes me happy. They promote Weston Price stuff, which is great, but I don't buy all of WP philosophy.

Beth, you would LOVE her!

[brittone2]

Wow!! A great doctor is a wonderful resource. Count your lucky stars! :)