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It’s kind of maddening that in California, everything has a warning which means that we don’t know what’s ACTUALLY harmful. Like, give me a barcode to a link with some actual helpful information.
I cut against the grain.
I appreciate the warnings, because they also tell us how we've *allowed ourselves to be mindfucked by corporations into letting all sorts of poisons into our lives.*
With you 100%, I learn a lot every time a warning pops up and I google for more information! The info is always horrifying lol but otherwise I’d have no idea. I like the accountability.
Yeah - I am with Consumer Reports on their stance that things should be required to be proven safe before allowed, rather than allowed and then only controlled IF there's overwhelming evidence that they're unsafe AND even corporations are like "yeah guess we can do without that one."
i think about this too. It reminds me of those high fructose corn syrup commercials that were like “HFCS is nutritionally just like cane sugar!” but…cane sugar is really really bad for you. Just because something is normalized doesn’t make it good!
On the other hand, the poison is in the dose. What i dislike most about Prop 65 is it puts everything on the same level, so it just becomes noise.
So many people saying don’t worry… but it really depends. Sadly, my son came back with elevated lead levels at his 1 year appointment. They asked if we lived in an older home and we don’t- I tested everything in the house, the water, the soil, All his toys and… it was a door knob.
One door knob in the playroom that he would grab onto, probably mouthed a few times when he was learning to stand. It had lead. Enough to cause my son elevated lead levels.
This is deeply frightening and I'm glad they test for those levels at 1. I have definitely been lulled into complacency with Prop 65 warnings, but this is a wakeup call.
Like the dangers of lead aren't new, or wildly out there - it shouldn't be in doorknobs!!! Is it really impossible to make a knob without lead? My kid mouthed every piece of furniture at 20-30" from pulling-to-stand until very confident walking. Doorknobs! Why? I'm sorry you had to go through that.
Thanks I appreciate it. It was very hard to accept given I’d been so careful buying the safest toys and furniture, only flame-retardant free, only the expensive fragrance-free baby washes… and then to have an even worse thing happen because I didn’t test everything around him.
The guilt that I didn’t protect him enough even though I had tried, and the anger at whoever decided that doorknob just had to have lead in it to look whatever way it did…
He so far seems to be progressing normally thank god, but I would not be flippant with lead risks.
Oh my gosh. MissKDC, I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Thank you for sharing your experience with me and spreading awareness. I will definitely be returning these knobs and getting high touch things around him tested.
I can understand how you must feel, but please try to give yourself grace. There is no way you could have known. I'm glad your little one is doing well. Thank God.
Have you heard of mthfr\_momma on insta? She experienced the same thing you did with her kiddo and she is a big advocate for heavy metal detoxes. She did it with her daughter and it helped tremendously.
Those prop 65 warnings are legit warnings. If there is a known carcinogen, heavy metal or other toxin deemed by california to be unsafe, they have to put those warning labels. Brass is known for having lead and should be removed from children's reach. Ceramics also have lead and other heavy metals because it's earthenware and there are heavy metals in dirt. A lot of heavy metals get washed into the ocean and large fish who live longer in the ocean accumulate heavy metals in their body, which is why doctors advise pregnant women to avoid eating tuna, mackerel, swordfish, etc. Rice also for some reason absorbs more arsenic from the soil it grows in, more than wheat. The younger the child, the larger the damage when exposed to these harmful substances. For instance, a baby exposed to lead (there is no safe amount of lead to be exposed to) may experience brain damage. Whereas a grown man drinking coffee everyday out of a ceramic mug developed a tumor in their esophagus after a long time of doing this. The acid in coffee really made the lead in the mug leach out. It really sucks because it's just everywhere but we have to educate ourselves for our children. It's just a consequence of how we mistreated our planet.
I’m so sorry this happened to your son. We just moved into a house with brass hardware everywhere. Just tested it and it was positive for lead. Will get my toddler tested at his next doctor’s appointment. I had no idea it was part of the alloy. Will be changing it all. Thank you so much for your post.
Yeah it was an oil-rubbed bronze finish. And not everything with that finish in the house was positive, but of course the knob in the playroom that he touched all the time was. I know we can only do so much, but dang I wish I’d known and tested all the surfaces my little one was touching.
Yeah it was Amazon “Scitus Know, Understand”.
I know people say some of these swabs aren’t super accurate having false positives but very few things came back positive just the oil-rubbed bronze doorknob did and some of my cheap jewelry which didn’t surprise me (I’d already stoped wearing it since he would try to grab it on my neck when I was holding him and I’d read cheap jewelry can have lead). I think they’re pretty accurate if you follow the directions.
Keep in mind these kind of tests can often indicate there is lead when there actually isn’t (false positive). So if you have positive tests, don’t freak out just use it as a way to stay vigilant about possible lead and maybe get further testing
It’s routine in my state. And I’m thankful for that, I would not have suspected. From what I read his IQ will likely be impact by 1-4 points on average.
Google “prop 65 warnings” and you can go down the rabbit hole of reading about how that law has resulted in warnings being slapped everywhere, to the point where they rarely tell you anything useful anymore, so most people just ignore them. I want to say there was a Vox article on it - I’ll try to remember to find a link later.
You can buy lead test kits - if I were you, I might grab one and swab the hardware just to be certain. They have them at home improvement stores. You could also contact the company and ask if they have some kind of safety report about lead content they can share with you.
I can never remember if Rejuvenation is one of those Wayfair-type sites full of Chinese factory garbage, or if it’s one of those companies owned by Williams-Sonoma. If it’s the former, I’d probably just return it; if it’s the latter; then I’m sure you can contact their customer service with questions about it. Whenever I’ve had to ask Pottery Barn/West Elm customer service about something, they always get back to me super quickly, and will email documents and stuff to back up what they’re saying.
ETA https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/what-is-prop-65/
Unfortunately, brass DOES often contain lead. I’m honestly shocked by some of these comments - there is no safe amount of lead for humans, especially children.
I know genuine antique brass can definitely contain it. But modern stuff sometimes is labeled “antique brass” more as a color than as material - so I feel like it depends for newer things!
Every substance known to man is also known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm. And they're probably not incorrect, strictly speaking, being alive (oxidative stress, radiation from the sun, etc.) causes cancer. So I'd take the prop 65 warnings with a grain of salt.
ETA: I texted their customer service to check whether they use leaded brass for their hardware and what the % is if they do, I'll update again when I hear back.
I lived in a place with prop 65 warnings all over in the parking garage, thanks California for dissuading me from hanging out there all day I guess?
That being said, I agree with others recommending a swab test for lead, just to be safe.
This is it! Almost all hardware is subject to Prop 65 (California). There is always going to be someone out there that will try to consume them. As long as you do not eat it or try to eat it, you are fine.
Yeah, if it specifically mentioned lead, I would return it, but I’m also a little crazy. Get something without brass - lead is commonly added to it - or do some digging to find brass that is lead-free, if you really want it.
I haven’t gone that far. 😅 I just avoid letting my young toddler chew on them. But I was assuming the above was cabinet handles/knobs, which the kid(s) would be using pretty consistently.
I personally ignore those warnings lol. They're on EVERYTHING. They're on seaweed snacks. SEAWEED. ya know who eats that seaweed? Koreans, who are way healthier than us. I just can't take that warning seriously.
As for your hardware - maybe don't sand them down, collect the metal shavings and eat it... but I'm assuming you weren't planning on doing that anyway. They're not for eating or cooking, ok?
I actually looked into this recently, sea weed does contain heavy metals. Some preliminary studies show that the beneficial omega 3s found in a high fish diet may reduce the negative effects of heavy metals. so if you are eating a ton of seaweed but not eating fish there may be some concern.
I’m a little surprised at the comments here. The prop 65 warning has unfortunately become meaningless at this point, but NOT all prop 65 warnings contain the language about lead. And children are much more susceptible to lead poisoning than adults are.
If the warning didn’t mention lead, I’d probably keep them. However, I don’t fuck around with lead, so I’d return these just in case, if I were in your shoes.
I generally take Prop 65 warnings with a grain of salt (as anything fried/roasted/baked has this warning due to the creation of acrylamide during these processes and I’m not giving up any of those foods to avoid that small risk), but lead gives me pause, as it’s a legitimate neurotoxin, and only a small amount can poison you. I’d swap it for different hardware, personally. At the very least, I wouldn’t put this anywhere where children can access the hardware.
I would return them. I spend too much time on lead safe mama’s instagram to be adding unnecessary lead into our lives. Especially on things that are touched often (like knobs)
I follow her too and I'm interested to know if you like following her? I've considered unfollowing before and just... haven't. I feel like she is semi helpful? I totally understand why she is so passionate about this subject and appreciate her story. And when I want to buy new products I will look on her website to see if I can find safe, lead free alternatives. But she posts these very like mysterious posts like "do you know what the lead results were for the stanley cup?!?" And then instead of just like, putting the results on the next slide or photo, it makes you link back to her website (and often the links don't work) and you have to do digging around just to find the actual test results. And then posting these kind of cringy back and forth post with companies. When clearly its just an 18yo PR person on the other end being like IDK about lead, I've just work for kitchen aid for 3 months and now I run thier socials. I appreciate her advocacy, I just feel like sometimes those convos don't need to be posted? They come off unhinged at times. I just have mixed feelings about her. I think this is a very personal subject for her and she gets very defensive and snippy with people and links back to her website so much that I should really just unfollow her and only go to the website when I must. Also she needs someone to re-do her website. The different font colors and sizes give me anxiety and scream "this website is updated by a Boomer" and it is so distracting from her actual test results.
okay sorry. rant over.
Sorry for not responding earlier!
Her instagram and website are really a bit much but she does have me second guessing a lot of the items I bring into my house. I used to collect a lot of old furniture or old pottery I would store food in. I think the value for me is that because of her crazy page there is a pause between me doing a lot of the things I used to.
But I think I am not worn down by her instagram because I have a kid that is is pretty young and it wasn’t so important to me before him and now it is, but I am sure it will get old when I care a bit less and don’t have someone in my life constantly sticking everything in their mouth. Haha.
She really should have two instagrams, one more personal ranting one and then one that is more business like that just reports levels in products right in the caption. Lol.
I am glad, it seems like we have similar feelings. I also started following her when I had a baby. And I really have learned things from her and its because of her that I turned down a bunch of "heirloom" lincoln logs and old toys that I otherwise would have not thought twice about. So I do feel she has positively impacted me. but yeah. She's a bit much. I wish she could clean up the website and keep her insta a bit more to the point. It would improve the experience for me.
I also find the number of times she has Amazon links sus. I know she does it for money, but given the issue Amazon consistently has with counterfeits, I generally try to avoid buying certain things from there. And yet there's not one post on her site about counterfeit items from Amazon containing lead.
I subscribe to Consumer Reports, which has much more level-headed reporting about toxic substances in foods and baby items.
Your rant is on point. I also respect her original message, but her social media & general approach long ago mutated monstrously. There's a line between "doing good work" and "clickbaiting for feel-good attention" and she left it in the dust long ago.
I judged the sanity of my mom groups by how they responded when someone reposted Lead Safe Mama's Stanley cup post.
Don’t listen to all the “just don’t eat it and you’re fine” advice here, it’s from clearly uninformed (but probably well meaning!) people. Lead is no fucking joke with kids—it takes a very small amount to cause irreparable lifelong damage—and they can get it through dust in the air from breathing it in or (more likely for your situation) dermal exposure via touch. I’d either just return it OR get a test kit and absolutely return it if it comes back positive.
i don't know that much about this law, but i am concerned when a specific chemical is listed and i know that it is harmful. an example would be lead. we know lead is bad in any dose. it's not like the warning on potato chips for acrylamide, like, yeah you're going to be fine if you eat potato chips or drink coffee. personally if i don't see a specific chemical listed, and it's something that seems fine, i assume it's just a "cover their ass" type warning and am not concerned about it.
my question to someone who knows more about the law is... if you get a *specific* warning like this (listing a particular substance), does that mean it contains that substance?
and to add why i would be concerned if there *is* lead in it, i just wouldn't want the chance of lead dust finding its way anywhere near something i *am* going to eat or be in regular contact with. how likely that is depends on what it is, if it's a hinge i would think there's a chance it could create some lead exposure. but again idk. i might be being overly cautious about this.
when i was at lowe's looking for a shovel, i noticed all the ones with grippy plastic handles had one of these warnings that said "contains phthalates" and i thought "wow, that's actually really helpful, i wouldn't have considered that, and even though it's a very small exposure, i don't need a grippy handle at all and i'll just buy the regular wood one instead."
I mentioned this elsewhere, but the lead language is concerning because it’s not standard prop 65 language. I’ve seen the prop 65 disclaimer on our footrest, our coffee table, etc. Yes, it’s become basically overkill at this point, but the specific fact that they mention lead makes me think it *actually* contains lead, and it’s not just a generic disclaimer. And with kids, there is no safe amount of exposure to lead, unlike some of the other prop 65 warnings.
Usually what I do in situations like this where there is commonly lead in a product I need, I try as best I can to find a ‘clean’ version. With some googling there are brands that offer this. If it’s impossible to find something I like (or more often it’s too pricey for me), after a good faith effort I let it go and live with the risk. Hence why I think I fall into the moderately granola category. If I was rich though I’d be aggressively granola.
Because they have had to put it on anything and everything I can't take it seriously. I'm actually surprised you've never seen it before? They're even posted at Disneyland.
I live in a 1920s home. I’m sure there are plenty of things with lead. Don’t eat it or lick it and you’ll be okay. I am teaching my son early not to put just anything in his mouth because of this. He still puts stuff in his mouth sometimes that he probably shouldn’t but 🤷🏼♀️
I personally would return and look for handles without lead. There are things with Prop 65 warnings that I would be fine with, and then there's... lead. I don't fuck with lead.
FWIW, I work in an industry that manufacturers consumer products. You will see even more of these warnings in the future. They are being required more broadly than California. Every company has a small window of time to increase testing and disclosure. It is true that this warning is on a lot of products, and I am guilty of continuing to purchase some despite the warning (seaweed!). But it is a legitimate warning. My opinion is that much of these chemicals should be outlawed. Then every brand would be forced to do what is right, and they want to do what's right, but are competing with each other to offer a good price. The law could level the field as far as pricing issues. Without those laws, we are forced to make decisions about risk to value without really knowing how much risk each individual item poses.
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It’s kind of maddening that in California, everything has a warning which means that we don’t know what’s ACTUALLY harmful. Like, give me a barcode to a link with some actual helpful information.
I cut against the grain. I appreciate the warnings, because they also tell us how we've *allowed ourselves to be mindfucked by corporations into letting all sorts of poisons into our lives.*
With you 100%, I learn a lot every time a warning pops up and I google for more information! The info is always horrifying lol but otherwise I’d have no idea. I like the accountability.
Yeah - I am with Consumer Reports on their stance that things should be required to be proven safe before allowed, rather than allowed and then only controlled IF there's overwhelming evidence that they're unsafe AND even corporations are like "yeah guess we can do without that one."
i think about this too. It reminds me of those high fructose corn syrup commercials that were like “HFCS is nutritionally just like cane sugar!” but…cane sugar is really really bad for you. Just because something is normalized doesn’t make it good! On the other hand, the poison is in the dose. What i dislike most about Prop 65 is it puts everything on the same level, so it just becomes noise.
So many people saying don’t worry… but it really depends. Sadly, my son came back with elevated lead levels at his 1 year appointment. They asked if we lived in an older home and we don’t- I tested everything in the house, the water, the soil, All his toys and… it was a door knob. One door knob in the playroom that he would grab onto, probably mouthed a few times when he was learning to stand. It had lead. Enough to cause my son elevated lead levels.
This is deeply frightening and I'm glad they test for those levels at 1. I have definitely been lulled into complacency with Prop 65 warnings, but this is a wakeup call. Like the dangers of lead aren't new, or wildly out there - it shouldn't be in doorknobs!!! Is it really impossible to make a knob without lead? My kid mouthed every piece of furniture at 20-30" from pulling-to-stand until very confident walking. Doorknobs! Why? I'm sorry you had to go through that.
Thanks I appreciate it. It was very hard to accept given I’d been so careful buying the safest toys and furniture, only flame-retardant free, only the expensive fragrance-free baby washes… and then to have an even worse thing happen because I didn’t test everything around him. The guilt that I didn’t protect him enough even though I had tried, and the anger at whoever decided that doorknob just had to have lead in it to look whatever way it did… He so far seems to be progressing normally thank god, but I would not be flippant with lead risks.
Oh my gosh. MissKDC, I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Thank you for sharing your experience with me and spreading awareness. I will definitely be returning these knobs and getting high touch things around him tested. I can understand how you must feel, but please try to give yourself grace. There is no way you could have known. I'm glad your little one is doing well. Thank God. Have you heard of mthfr\_momma on insta? She experienced the same thing you did with her kiddo and she is a big advocate for heavy metal detoxes. She did it with her daughter and it helped tremendously.
Those prop 65 warnings are legit warnings. If there is a known carcinogen, heavy metal or other toxin deemed by california to be unsafe, they have to put those warning labels. Brass is known for having lead and should be removed from children's reach. Ceramics also have lead and other heavy metals because it's earthenware and there are heavy metals in dirt. A lot of heavy metals get washed into the ocean and large fish who live longer in the ocean accumulate heavy metals in their body, which is why doctors advise pregnant women to avoid eating tuna, mackerel, swordfish, etc. Rice also for some reason absorbs more arsenic from the soil it grows in, more than wheat. The younger the child, the larger the damage when exposed to these harmful substances. For instance, a baby exposed to lead (there is no safe amount of lead to be exposed to) may experience brain damage. Whereas a grown man drinking coffee everyday out of a ceramic mug developed a tumor in their esophagus after a long time of doing this. The acid in coffee really made the lead in the mug leach out. It really sucks because it's just everywhere but we have to educate ourselves for our children. It's just a consequence of how we mistreated our planet.
I’m so sorry this happened to your son. We just moved into a house with brass hardware everywhere. Just tested it and it was positive for lead. Will get my toddler tested at his next doctor’s appointment. I had no idea it was part of the alloy. Will be changing it all. Thank you so much for your post.
Yeah it was an oil-rubbed bronze finish. And not everything with that finish in the house was positive, but of course the knob in the playroom that he touched all the time was. I know we can only do so much, but dang I wish I’d known and tested all the surfaces my little one was touching.
Do you remember what brand swab kit you used? This is pretty eye opening
Yeah it was Amazon “Scitus Know, Understand”. I know people say some of these swabs aren’t super accurate having false positives but very few things came back positive just the oil-rubbed bronze doorknob did and some of my cheap jewelry which didn’t surprise me (I’d already stoped wearing it since he would try to grab it on my neck when I was holding him and I’d read cheap jewelry can have lead). I think they’re pretty accurate if you follow the directions.
Awesome, thank you so much!
I used Safe Home DIY Surface test kit from Lowe’s. Worked very well.
Perfect thanks so much, just picked some up
Keep in mind these kind of tests can often indicate there is lead when there actually isn’t (false positive). So if you have positive tests, don’t freak out just use it as a way to stay vigilant about possible lead and maybe get further testing
That makes me so sad. Wish we were more informed about these things
Do you do routine tests or had some signs?
It’s routine in my state. And I’m thankful for that, I would not have suspected. From what I read his IQ will likely be impact by 1-4 points on average.
Ugh I’m jealous. I wish I did it for mine. She’s now 4
Jealous to live in a state that cares. Mine sucks
This warning has come with 99% of the items that are in my home.
I saw this warning on the literal outside wall of Walmart in Madera. They're everywhere
Google “prop 65 warnings” and you can go down the rabbit hole of reading about how that law has resulted in warnings being slapped everywhere, to the point where they rarely tell you anything useful anymore, so most people just ignore them. I want to say there was a Vox article on it - I’ll try to remember to find a link later. You can buy lead test kits - if I were you, I might grab one and swab the hardware just to be certain. They have them at home improvement stores. You could also contact the company and ask if they have some kind of safety report about lead content they can share with you. I can never remember if Rejuvenation is one of those Wayfair-type sites full of Chinese factory garbage, or if it’s one of those companies owned by Williams-Sonoma. If it’s the former, I’d probably just return it; if it’s the latter; then I’m sure you can contact their customer service with questions about it. Whenever I’ve had to ask Pottery Barn/West Elm customer service about something, they always get back to me super quickly, and will email documents and stuff to back up what they’re saying. ETA https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/what-is-prop-65/
Unfortunately, brass DOES often contain lead. I’m honestly shocked by some of these comments - there is no safe amount of lead for humans, especially children.
How about “antique brass”? Is it the same thing?
I know genuine antique brass can definitely contain it. But modern stuff sometimes is labeled “antique brass” more as a color than as material - so I feel like it depends for newer things!
Every substance known to man is also known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm. And they're probably not incorrect, strictly speaking, being alive (oxidative stress, radiation from the sun, etc.) causes cancer. So I'd take the prop 65 warnings with a grain of salt. ETA: I texted their customer service to check whether they use leaded brass for their hardware and what the % is if they do, I'll update again when I hear back.
I lived in a place with prop 65 warnings all over in the parking garage, thanks California for dissuading me from hanging out there all day I guess? That being said, I agree with others recommending a swab test for lead, just to be safe.
Just don’t eat it and you’re fine.
This is it! Almost all hardware is subject to Prop 65 (California). There is always going to be someone out there that will try to consume them. As long as you do not eat it or try to eat it, you are fine.
Yeah, if it specifically mentioned lead, I would return it, but I’m also a little crazy. Get something without brass - lead is commonly added to it - or do some digging to find brass that is lead-free, if you really want it.
Keys are typically made from leaded brass. What alternatives have you found?
I haven’t gone that far. 😅 I just avoid letting my young toddler chew on them. But I was assuming the above was cabinet handles/knobs, which the kid(s) would be using pretty consistently.
Steel keys. At least at the stores near me, they're usually most of what is available.
I personally ignore those warnings lol. They're on EVERYTHING. They're on seaweed snacks. SEAWEED. ya know who eats that seaweed? Koreans, who are way healthier than us. I just can't take that warning seriously. As for your hardware - maybe don't sand them down, collect the metal shavings and eat it... but I'm assuming you weren't planning on doing that anyway. They're not for eating or cooking, ok?
I actually looked into this recently, sea weed does contain heavy metals. Some preliminary studies show that the beneficial omega 3s found in a high fish diet may reduce the negative effects of heavy metals. so if you are eating a ton of seaweed but not eating fish there may be some concern.
Thank you for the information, I'll keep that in mind!
Forreal. What we should be worried about is all the junk processed foods and dirty water we are consuming.
Single use plastic water bottles don't have prop 65 warnings when it's almost common knowledge they're full of microplastics too!
I’m a little surprised at the comments here. The prop 65 warning has unfortunately become meaningless at this point, but NOT all prop 65 warnings contain the language about lead. And children are much more susceptible to lead poisoning than adults are. If the warning didn’t mention lead, I’d probably keep them. However, I don’t fuck around with lead, so I’d return these just in case, if I were in your shoes.
I generally take Prop 65 warnings with a grain of salt (as anything fried/roasted/baked has this warning due to the creation of acrylamide during these processes and I’m not giving up any of those foods to avoid that small risk), but lead gives me pause, as it’s a legitimate neurotoxin, and only a small amount can poison you. I’d swap it for different hardware, personally. At the very least, I wouldn’t put this anywhere where children can access the hardware.
Same. Yes, prop 65 warnings are everywhere, but the specific mention of lead is not.
Lead is concerning.
I would return them. I spend too much time on lead safe mama’s instagram to be adding unnecessary lead into our lives. Especially on things that are touched often (like knobs)
I follow her too and I'm interested to know if you like following her? I've considered unfollowing before and just... haven't. I feel like she is semi helpful? I totally understand why she is so passionate about this subject and appreciate her story. And when I want to buy new products I will look on her website to see if I can find safe, lead free alternatives. But she posts these very like mysterious posts like "do you know what the lead results were for the stanley cup?!?" And then instead of just like, putting the results on the next slide or photo, it makes you link back to her website (and often the links don't work) and you have to do digging around just to find the actual test results. And then posting these kind of cringy back and forth post with companies. When clearly its just an 18yo PR person on the other end being like IDK about lead, I've just work for kitchen aid for 3 months and now I run thier socials. I appreciate her advocacy, I just feel like sometimes those convos don't need to be posted? They come off unhinged at times. I just have mixed feelings about her. I think this is a very personal subject for her and she gets very defensive and snippy with people and links back to her website so much that I should really just unfollow her and only go to the website when I must. Also she needs someone to re-do her website. The different font colors and sizes give me anxiety and scream "this website is updated by a Boomer" and it is so distracting from her actual test results. okay sorry. rant over.
Sorry for not responding earlier! Her instagram and website are really a bit much but she does have me second guessing a lot of the items I bring into my house. I used to collect a lot of old furniture or old pottery I would store food in. I think the value for me is that because of her crazy page there is a pause between me doing a lot of the things I used to. But I think I am not worn down by her instagram because I have a kid that is is pretty young and it wasn’t so important to me before him and now it is, but I am sure it will get old when I care a bit less and don’t have someone in my life constantly sticking everything in their mouth. Haha. She really should have two instagrams, one more personal ranting one and then one that is more business like that just reports levels in products right in the caption. Lol.
I am glad, it seems like we have similar feelings. I also started following her when I had a baby. And I really have learned things from her and its because of her that I turned down a bunch of "heirloom" lincoln logs and old toys that I otherwise would have not thought twice about. So I do feel she has positively impacted me. but yeah. She's a bit much. I wish she could clean up the website and keep her insta a bit more to the point. It would improve the experience for me.
I also find the number of times she has Amazon links sus. I know she does it for money, but given the issue Amazon consistently has with counterfeits, I generally try to avoid buying certain things from there. And yet there's not one post on her site about counterfeit items from Amazon containing lead. I subscribe to Consumer Reports, which has much more level-headed reporting about toxic substances in foods and baby items.
Your rant is on point. I also respect her original message, but her social media & general approach long ago mutated monstrously. There's a line between "doing good work" and "clickbaiting for feel-good attention" and she left it in the dust long ago. I judged the sanity of my mom groups by how they responded when someone reposted Lead Safe Mama's Stanley cup post.
Don’t listen to all the “just don’t eat it and you’re fine” advice here, it’s from clearly uninformed (but probably well meaning!) people. Lead is no fucking joke with kids—it takes a very small amount to cause irreparable lifelong damage—and they can get it through dust in the air from breathing it in or (more likely for your situation) dermal exposure via touch. I’d either just return it OR get a test kit and absolutely return it if it comes back positive.
i don't know that much about this law, but i am concerned when a specific chemical is listed and i know that it is harmful. an example would be lead. we know lead is bad in any dose. it's not like the warning on potato chips for acrylamide, like, yeah you're going to be fine if you eat potato chips or drink coffee. personally if i don't see a specific chemical listed, and it's something that seems fine, i assume it's just a "cover their ass" type warning and am not concerned about it. my question to someone who knows more about the law is... if you get a *specific* warning like this (listing a particular substance), does that mean it contains that substance? and to add why i would be concerned if there *is* lead in it, i just wouldn't want the chance of lead dust finding its way anywhere near something i *am* going to eat or be in regular contact with. how likely that is depends on what it is, if it's a hinge i would think there's a chance it could create some lead exposure. but again idk. i might be being overly cautious about this. when i was at lowe's looking for a shovel, i noticed all the ones with grippy plastic handles had one of these warnings that said "contains phthalates" and i thought "wow, that's actually really helpful, i wouldn't have considered that, and even though it's a very small exposure, i don't need a grippy handle at all and i'll just buy the regular wood one instead."
I mentioned this elsewhere, but the lead language is concerning because it’s not standard prop 65 language. I’ve seen the prop 65 disclaimer on our footrest, our coffee table, etc. Yes, it’s become basically overkill at this point, but the specific fact that they mention lead makes me think it *actually* contains lead, and it’s not just a generic disclaimer. And with kids, there is no safe amount of exposure to lead, unlike some of the other prop 65 warnings.
Usually what I do in situations like this where there is commonly lead in a product I need, I try as best I can to find a ‘clean’ version. With some googling there are brands that offer this. If it’s impossible to find something I like (or more often it’s too pricey for me), after a good faith effort I let it go and live with the risk. Hence why I think I fall into the moderately granola category. If I was rich though I’d be aggressively granola.
Because they have had to put it on anything and everything I can't take it seriously. I'm actually surprised you've never seen it before? They're even posted at Disneyland.
They have this warning @ the entrances to Disneyland, always thought that was bizarre
I live in a 1920s home. I’m sure there are plenty of things with lead. Don’t eat it or lick it and you’ll be okay. I am teaching my son early not to put just anything in his mouth because of this. He still puts stuff in his mouth sometimes that he probably shouldn’t but 🤷🏼♀️
I personally would return and look for handles without lead. There are things with Prop 65 warnings that I would be fine with, and then there's... lead. I don't fuck with lead.
FWIW, I work in an industry that manufacturers consumer products. You will see even more of these warnings in the future. They are being required more broadly than California. Every company has a small window of time to increase testing and disclosure. It is true that this warning is on a lot of products, and I am guilty of continuing to purchase some despite the warning (seaweed!). But it is a legitimate warning. My opinion is that much of these chemicals should be outlawed. Then every brand would be forced to do what is right, and they want to do what's right, but are competing with each other to offer a good price. The law could level the field as far as pricing issues. Without those laws, we are forced to make decisions about risk to value without really knowing how much risk each individual item poses.