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Call it mother’s intuition, but I was thinking it would be prudent to go and get some lead tests at the hardware store and make sure that Gabel’s toys and the antique coffee table he always seems to chew on, was free of lead paint. As everything of concern was checking out OK, I thought I would test the beaded board we used in our bathroom. It’s antique long leaf pine and beautiful, one of the most beautiful rooms in our home. There were three layers of paint showing and although they were not flaking too much, there was a dusty quality to the surface of it, so I tested it. Sure enough, the bottom layer of cream-colored paint was positive for lead! We FREAKED out. The next couple of days were spent sealing and re-sealing the bathroom walls… Here we are living in a “green” home, built with recycled materials, thinking that we are saving so many trees and at the same time getting some history and warmth in our home. We had no idea we were bringing lead into our house!

Unfortunately, old house paint is not the only place you find lead. I was just buying a new sippy cup (all of the old ones I had saved that Aidan sipped on had Bisphenol A in them and phthalates to boot), and the box of our Think Baby cup said, “Lead Free!”… What? Someone actually puts lead paint on baby sippy cups?” Not only that, but on children’s toys both plastic and wooden. Any plastic or wooden toy that is painted, especially those made in China, should be tested for lead. If you have a toddler who may be teething on these toys, lead may not be your only concern, most plastic toys contain phthalates and bisphenol A, which has been labeled even by Wal-Mart as a hazardous substance.

What have we chosen for ourselves? The bottom line, is it more important than our safety and our health?

Quote of the Month: “Economic advance is not the same thing as human progress.”  ~John Clapham, 1957