I was just reading about the latest efforts to keep lead out of children’s products. Now, of course we need to keep objects that contain lead away from preschoolers. On the other hand, we allow teenagers to drive cars, trusting that they will not decide to chew on the car’s battery. But where should we draw the line?
Even adults will chew on things they’re not meant too. You will never eliminate all the people from chewing on stuff they shouldn’t.
Lead isn’t only a problem because someone chews something made with it. Lead also wears off as you use a product painted with lead or made of lead. The hands and other items that rub against the lead will have loose lead on them and can get into a person’s mouth or lungs to travel the circulatory system. We eliminated it in paints, gas and other products in this country because there was problem with lead levels in peoples blood.
Specifically on imports not cracking down on lead in products is allowing retardation and lead poisoning for the simple lack of trying. Not making imports stick to our laws is not acceptable.
Yes of course! It was just a thought that occurred to me as I was reading about lead, but that’s not really my question.
We don’t let little children play with games that have small pieces either - but teenagers are allowed to work on their own bicycles (with small screws and nuts) or make things with small beads. At what age can you not worry about a kid choking on, say, board game pieces or dice?
This continues what I was saying before hitting the wrong button.
Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital : Understanding lead poisoning
The EPA site Lead Poisoning: A Historical Perspective
The question came across as is lead an issue for other than small children question when I read it.
The USA toy industry does a pretty good job at rating children’s toys for age groups already.
My daughter never really put things in her mouth but now that she’s 3, I’ve noticed that toys for 3 year olds have a lot of small parts. I assume that’s the general age you’re asking about.
Yeah, most toys intended for older children say “NOT INTENDED FOR CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF THREE” in big bold type on the package, so it’s probably right around that age. Those small toys still get stuck up noses even past that age, though, but I think they’re primarily concerned about choking.
My eldest daughter has never been one to put things in her mouth, she’s three. My one year old does it a bit more. As far as where to draw the line, I think it’s a matter of controlled experimentation. As your child gets older you give them toys and things to play with that are smaller, initially you supervise closely until you’re satisfied that the toy is not likely to pose a great risk. You can never eliminate all of the risk of course. Ultimately it’s a judgment call based on your observations of your child’s behavior.
5 nieces and nephews here, I think they were past that stage between 2 and 3.
I work in a daycare, and I’d say three is a little past the average age. There’s a lot of variation, though; some kids have stopped by two, and others are still chewing on everything at three and a half. Of course, chewing on things like pencils and fingernails is still common after that age.
The concern with lead for kids past toddlerhood isn’t that they will directly put the object in their mouths, but that it will enter the body through other means - paint scrapings under the fingernails, for instance, or in the case of the plastic lunchbox scare some years ago by leaching into food.
And, as we’ve learned, there seems to be no age at which people can resist the urge to put things up their noses.
Mine quit by the time she hit two. Before that, though, everything went in. The wife didn’t understand why I was pissed off the third time I pulled a little quarter-sized tin of Bert’s Bees lip balm out of the kid’s mouth.
It’s like the fucking thing is built to perfectly seal a windpipe! Put it where she can’t reach it already!
I did, however, have to pop a pea out of her nostril a few weeks ago.
-Joe
If it’s boogers, I’ve noticed that there doesn’t seem to be a ready and fast answer to the OP’s question.