Oh how Painful...

[#1]

Ughh! There are certain materials and products that even though they may not be lead based or are difficult to extract the lead from are still perhaps unsuitable for children's products.

That being said I really wish people would move on from swarovski crystals...its over. Find other ways to achieve your "bling" fix. As a mom, I personally find it appalling that there are people out there who think its okay to GLUE things onto the items of infants and young children simply because it looks cute. I remember the rhinestone covered pacifiers and onesies. I never bought any of them...because anyone who has a child knows that they put everything in their mouth. Evidently children don't read warning labels...

And glue becomes brittle after a while especially when its exposed to moisture either through washing or a child's mouth heightening the possibility that a stray crystal may dislodge. This is regardless of the kind of glue that you use. Sewing on would be better in terms of apparel but few who get into that game are going to take the time or have the ability to sew on their crystals which is why they glue them on to begin with. In terms of gluing things on pacifiers, bottles, plates(yes I have seen it),spoons, pillows, toys....give it up. Glue is not our friend.

Now I will say an option for those who use crystals decoratively in items like headbands( an entirely different product than a bottle ) perhaps those plastic gems would be a better option. Less glitz because there's not a good deal of the refractive light qualities that come with crystal, but there is still some. Again, even with these I would suggest sew-on versus glue on....

******Annoyed because I just read through a recall memo from CPSC regarding etsy and ebay sellers back in 2007 and wondered where is the common sense?

[MyTheta]

Which law are you referring to? The small parts regulation has been around for quite some time now & it is there to protect children & consumers.

http://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/regsumsmallparts.pdf

visit the site if you are not aware that small parts aren't for babies... protect yourself and others too...

[MyTheta]

Which law are you referring to? The small parts regulation has been around for quite some time now & it is there to protect children & consumers.

http://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/regsumsmallparts.pdf

visit the site if you are not aware that small parts aren't for babies... protect yourself and others too...

[trendybindi]

I am referring to the CPSIA

[trendybindi]

Trust me, I would never let a baby or small child have something small that could get into its mouth. However, I am referring to the lead in the crystals.

[MyTheta]

I know - I think that some people are referring to a small parts issue though too - I know you wouldn't, but there are still some people that aren't aware and they should be informed.

[MyTheta]

Accidents happen all the time. Some of these laws are really designed to minimize risks.

[Former_Member]

Just curious...what about crystal wine glasses? Do we get lead from those if we drink wine from them? How would/could a child get lead from a swarovski crystal? Would it have to be ingested?
Just wondering?

[Former_Member]

Some of those sellers have a reason to complain with this law.

***
It's not about complaints with the law, it's more about sellers being more responsible with what they sell. The OP isn't arguing about the crystals for children's jewlery, it's about crafters gluing all the bling on baby items.

Two completely different subjects.

[Former_Member]

yes lead can be leached into the food from crystal dishes. You can use it to drink from and so forth, but you don't want to store drinks in a crystal decanter b/c the levels increase over time. there are safety precautions you can take to limit your exposure if you use lead crystal glasses and such, just google it. :)

But, the difference is you are not likely to swallow a piece of the lead crystal wine glass, so the exposure is very minimal.

[Former_Member]

The lead leaching out from a wine glass isnt as likely, as it takes a LONG time to leach out - even someone who takes HOURS to drink their martini isnt risking any lead leaching out. And it's not even a case of swallowing the crystal - because even if you swallowed a stone, you PASS the stones before lead leaches out (If you have a piece of glass in your system for 10 years you've likely got other problems afterall!)- so again, as a hazard this stuff only makes sense in the context of choking hazards, not as a lead hazard, which is where I find the law is a red herring.

But a decanter that stores brandy for a decade potentially is a different story. That said, Im not sure how much you get out into a drink (i.e. would you have alcohol poisoning before lead poisoning for it to make much difference?) I don't know.

All that aside, the lead law has been around for over a year now, regarding the crystal, when it comes to kids. At least for sales to California, you have to ALWAYS provide the lead warnings for ANYTHING sold for kids that has swarovsky, and you cant make a bracelet with, say for example, more than I think it was 4 6mm bicones for a kid - and by kid I'm not talking binky clips, I'm talking for a 12 year old middle schooler, where you'd be pretty hard pressed to explain how a bracelet with the "bling" could truly be considered "dangerous".

[Former_Member]

I have to say that "bling" on children's clothing never really appealed to me much. One year I tried finding my daughter a top on short notice for her school picture and had a terrible time finding anything without glitter, or rhinestones, or metallic paint. Yuck. But it never occured to me in younger kids that they could be dangerous. She had a couple of tops with a small amount of gems or whatever on them and they were always coming off in the wash. So I would imagine peeling them off wouldn't be too hard for some littler kids who might put them in their mouths, noses, ears etc. So glad I don't make things for kids lol. Too much to worry about!

[Former_Member]

I'm not making judgement call on the bling stuff - just advocating clarity in what exactly it is that the safety laws object to.

Honestly, I have no idea if the little bedazzler things would block airways, but I have also pulled peas out of my kids' noses, so I personally probably wouldn't use stuff that had little bits that come off easily either, but some of that depends on the kids, the occasion, and how closely one feels they can monitor the little ones.
But if they're going to make a regulation saying across the board "sellers cannot make due to safety concerns" they ought to spell out exactly what the safety concern is and do it properly.

Personally, I am curious how some of these sellers manage to secure insurance, as it's been my experience that a lot of the agents I have encountered get *really skittish* anytime babies are included in the potential target audience.

[Former_Member]

laughingstarfish
WOW! Thanks for your indepth response. What about wine bottles? Especially ones that are meant to be in a bottle to age?

A little off the subject, but I just read an article about mercury being in high-fructose corn syrup. It just seems like we can't get away from it..although my kids don't each much of these high processed foods, it makes me wonder how come they can be sold in the first place.....http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/02/14/Most-Common-Source-of-Calories-in-US-i...

[Former_Member]

I havent heard of crystal wine bottles - if such a thing exists it's in a socio-economic circle that I dont mix with much. ;) I also drink my wine within a few years, since the wines I've held on to have tended to turn to vinegar haha, so I wouldnt know. I think there's some more data in that petition to the CPSIA regarding the lead leaching from crystals.

I'm just sayin the leaded crystal law bugs me because the lead in them is just not something that I would put up there for top reasons baby-products should use care when using the crystals. If they're fragile, breakable, something that could crack and cut, something that could be choked on, etc etc - well, then that's a perfectly good reason not to use them (and therefore any glass/gemstone/whatever should be considered when making the product regardless of whether it has lead), but if we're just saying dont use them because there's lead that's just silly, particularly since lead laws are applied equally to a 10 year old and a 2 year old.

[Former_Member]

ittybittyrevolution says:
... a winning strategy might not be passing the entire buck of safety onto the consumer. I feel there is a certain amount of responsibility on both parties. (redacted for brevity; see p.2 of thread for full post)
*************
Point well taken, ittybitty. There are good laws on the books for small parts (for good reason). But parents cannot put all the blame on a manufacturer for making something like that; they bought it (or received it as a gift and are using it). As a mom, I shoulder the ultimate responsibility for everything my kids use, whether it's something I made or something I bought.

[Former_Member]

mitsel8 says:
Wow, I have a 6 and a 10 year old and this is the first time I've seen these pacifiers! It seems that on one of those links they are still for sale. I put 1 in my cart just to see and it took me to paypal. Maybe if I continued it would have eventually not let me finish the transaction.
___________________________________________________

Look, not to start a whole bashing party tonight, but I think that you should practice what you preach, Maybe I'm wrong but to mitsel8, I honestly can't see a 13 year wanting this on their wall: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=15288585

but yet you feel it's ok to sell this but not anything else with bling on it? Double Standards?? Am I missing the point here or what?

[Former_Member]

woa... yeah, I think you did miss the point, AND it sounded like a personal insult too.

thejewelryhutch, since the discussion has mostly been about children likely to swallow the stones - I'm pretty sure you'd have some **electric** results if your 13 year old is likely to go around licking the switchplates on their walls.

[RobWhite]

Please don't call out other members of the Etsy community on the public Forums.