So, I was just starting to stop worrying about all the cancer-causing plastic in HD's life when I read the op-ed in the New York Times yesterday that explained, in brief, the new bill that Congress is trying to get passed, to increase regulations and bans against lead and other dangerous chemicals in children's toys. Part of me is sad that a bill like this is even necessary, but part of me is glad that, if it passes, there will be one less issue related to child safety that scares me.
I still don't know who or what to believe about which plastics are bad and which are okay, what I should throw out and what I should keep, in part because every competing interest has its own thinly-veiled Web site or interest group that says something different. In the same moment I'm impressed that I have wooden toys for HD and nervous the paint is going to make him sick, and then I feed him out of a plastic bowl with a plastic spoon and he chews on his likely-vinyl bath books that have the words "non toxic" printed right on them. I look around at the increasingly plastic wonderland that is his home and tell myself that it can't be that bad, because if I let myself believe that it is, I would be too overwhelmed and feel horrible for not knowing what, if anything, is truly safe. So, we have a BPA-free sippy cup and a handful of wooden toys to complement his mostly not-BPA-free eating and drinking utensils and toys and hope this bill gets passed so I can stop flip-flopping on whether to be nervous or not about this one particular thing. Although, the fact that there is a bill - and quite frankly, a NY Times op-ed - makes me nervous.
Comments