As you know, the CPSC has confirmed that the popular toy Zhu Zhu pets is safe. It is “not out of compliance with the antimony or other heavy metal limits.” My concern is, as a parent of an autistic child, I have been told that an item is safe for children, yet have found that it is not safe for my child.
A lot of our children are more sensitive to toxics than other children. They say that the amount of toxic metals contained in these toys are within government guidelines. My concern is that they do not say that these toys do not contain any of the toxics.
As a parent of an autistic child, this concerns me a lot. I do love these toys, and so do my children. However, I have to think about their health and safety. I contacted a representative of Zhu Zhu Pets via email. Here is a copy of what I asked and his reply. I contacted the CPSC and I have it and their reply copied below.
My email request:
I've been keeping track of what has been going on. I have that the CPSC has issue a statement that the toys are safe for normal play, although I don't see their statement on their website yet. My question is whether or not they are safe for autistic children. Our children are not known for playing normally. Some can be violant with their toys, others tend to mouth them. Under these circumstances, does the company believe that our children are safe? Thank you.
Tammy Lessick
Response received:
The CPSC confirmed that Zhu Zhu Pets meet their safety standards. You can see the article that was posted this morning in the Los Angeles Times: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-zhuzhu-pets8-2009dec08,0,7448175.story?track=rss. Cepia has also posted the results of the tests to the zhuzhupets.com web site if you’d like to take a look for yourself. - Company Representative
My email request:
Good afternoon. I am in need of follow-up information about the safety of the Zhu Zhu Pets. I have read that the CPSC has issued a statement that they are safe for normal play. My publiccation centers around autistic children. Our children are not known for playing with their toys normally. Many can be violent with their toys or mouth them. Many of our children also have weak immune systems and are more sensitive to metal toxins. My question is, are these toys, under these circumstances, safe for our autistic children?
Response received:
Tammy,
See our statement below re: Zhu Zhu Pets.
Thanks, Nychelle
“CPSC confirmed today that the popular Zhu Zhu toy is not out of compliance with the antimony or other heavy metal limits of the new U.S. mandatory toy standard. CPSC will continue to evaluate safety issues on toys as they arise.”
Nychelle (Nikki) Fleming
Public Affairs Specialist
Office of Information & Public Affairs
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
The toys are safe. They are within the government’s guidelines. We are told the same thing about vaccines, yet for some of our children, vaccines were harmful. Did you notice that neither one actually answered my question? What do you think? Are Zhu Zhu pets safe for autistic children?
5 comments:
I think receiving a non-answer such as this would make me reconsider the safety of the product completely.
If there is ever any doubt about whether a toy is proper for your child, trusting your parental instincts is far more important than trusting any government reports.
Yea, is it safe if my kid eats it?
That is a very good question and the fact that the answer seems to be "brief" and "vague" doesn't really reassure me ... I mean you are right with the reference to vaccines, good no harm to some children while others they do cause harm. I would rather be safe than sorry :-)
I think they'll have a hard time giving an across the board answer about children with ASD. Many of our kids, like you said, possess some very unique qualities as compared to a neuro-typical child. My child is able to use a bow and arrow because of his hyper-focus about what is to - through - and beyond his target. I have to other non-autistic children that are older than my ASD child that I won't touch the bow and arrow because of their lack of awareness.
We have to make a judgement ourselves for our children whether or not a product is safe for our kids by doing our own research. I've not found anyone yet that can tell me how to raise my child better than my wife and I.
I agree with the person who answered ...receiving a non answer would make me reconsider the safety. Actually after reading about these zhu zhu pets it makes me reconsider about all toys we let our kids play with.
I just dont feel safe with anything anymore after these last years of what china and others has done to food,toys and so on....
Anyone that puts toys in there mouth should probabbly stay far away from these zhu zhu pets just to play it safe.
If its not safe with a 3 year old im almost positive its not safe for anyone that puts toys in there mouth.
just my opinion
I think im going to go back to reg board games,books,and drawing for creativity for kids
also for unique items visit here on my online shop -our items come from u.s.a.
http://www.cafepress.com/blamemyparents
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