August 3, 2006

More to do about Crayons

I am amazed and humbled by the response to my little post about crayons. There are lots of great comments following that post, so be sure to read them all. Here is a comment that started a new mystery for me to investigate:
Anonymous said... "This is only hearsay, but from someone I trust. Her grand-niece tested as having a high level of lead in her blood, and when the person sent to investigate saw her RoseArt crayons, she said, "There's the problem" and claimed that RoseArt crayons contain lead. I can't find anything on the Internet about RoseArt in particular although there are some warnings about lead in imported crayons. Has anyone else heard about this? "

Well, this sent me on a search to see what I could see. I found some interesting articles you can find here, here and also here. Even if you don't read all of those, be sure to read this one. It seems there is much more to do about asbestos in crayons than lead in the colorful, waxy sticks of childhood delight.

My advice? Just don't let the children chew, suck or inhale the dust of their crayons....just to be safe. (wink, wink)

What do you think?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

And you probably should use any crayons you have from 1994 (isn't that when the lead issue occurred?) Luckily for me, crayons last approximately 12 minutes in my house before they are broken and in the trash.

Roberta said...

We'll watch out for that wild crayon dust. Did I tell you Liliana swallowed a penny last week? *sigh* That's not so good for you either. :)

Mom of thirteen said...

A little extra copper in her diet probably won't hurt! LOL!

Yes, if any of those PRE-1994-imported-from-China crayons have found a way to defy the odds and still be floating around, they should be tossed just to be safe. ;)

~jerri

Anonymous said...

I guess I wouldn't use the crayons from China, but sometimes we get too zealous about "safety"--if it were up to some folks, the only safe thing for a child to do would be to sit and twiddle their fingers.

Doesn't asbestos have to be inhaled to be a problem? How does a child inhale crayons? I know they regularly chew them, as I have changed some colorful diapers, but wax just doesn't break down into dust!

AnnMarie said...

We just had the full house testing for lead (our 18 month old had a lighltly elevated but high enough for the inspectors to come in). There wasn't any mention whatsoever of lead in crayons! On the other hand, we have about $25,000 of lead abatement work to complete. (Which, unfortunately, probably won't increase the worth of the house that much. The house is only $100000 to begin with.)

Roberta said...

Hi Jer...off topic...I FINALLY posted about our visit. :)

Someone Beautiful said...

Your crayon comparison post made me crack up because I sat down too, to compare how the two brands colored. You were much more thorough!! :) I just posted about my favorite Crayola find. If you have preschoolers or toddlers, check it out: http://lipslikehoney.blogspot.com/2006/08/my-favorite-crayons-for-youngsters.html

Jenni said...

So just out of curiosity, can eating crayons harm your say two year old? I don't usuallly let him color because he is always eating the crayons, but he loves to color. Should I just let the poor kid eat the crayons and not worry about it? Mind you, he doesn't really like to color, mostly just eat the crayons. Hmmm, am I being too harsh? Anyone?

Anonymous said...

From what I know about crayons, which isn't that much, most of the boxes will say 'non-toxic' on them.

 
design by suckmylolly.com