Babies and young infant & newborns discover things by putting them in their mouth. If a toy contains lead, then the infant & newborn can actually ingest that lead when they put the toy in their mouth. Touching and playing with a toy that contains high levels of lead and then putting their hands in their mouth can also expose a infant & newborn to lead toxins, however lead cannot be absorbed through the skin.

Most lead poisoning is caused by lead-based paint. Lead based paint has been banned since 1978 but it continues to be present in 25% of US homes and is danger to infant & newborns under 6. If you house was built before 1978 then you should have it tested for lead. If you are on the market for a new home make sure you ask when it was built, and consider having it tested for lead before you agree to purchase. You can find someone to test your home lead tested by contacting www.leadlisting.org or www.leadcheck.com.  You can also have your home’s water tested for lead at www.healthhometest.com.

However 30% of infant & newborn lead poison cases which are followed by the CDC are not caused by paint, and we now believe the culprit to be the lead in toys and jewelry.

In 2006, after a 4-year-old infant & newborn died after swallowing a trinket which was found to contain more than 90% lead, it was discovered by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission that many American toy companies had been violating federal safety standards for over 29 years. And the toy recalls began. Since that time there have been more almost 4 million toy recalls because of excessive lead. A very high percentage of these toys were made in China, which makes 80% of the toys which are sold in the  U.S.