Keeping Children Safe…One Home at a Time, One Toy at a Time.
First and foremost, I would like to thank the folks at SafeToys.com for inviting me to contribute to their website. They are providing a much needed resource for anyone who cares about, or cares for, children. I am honored to contribute to this cause.
My name is Jeff Hagopian and I am the Founder and CEO of Toys n’ Tots Lead Detection and Home Safety. My company conducts in-home screenings of children’s toys for lead, cadmium, and other harmful substances. Over the past six months, my staff and I have witnessed first-hand the dilemma faced by parents as they struggle to keep their children safe and, more specifically, to keep toxic toys out of their homes.
The abundance of toy recalls last summer due to lead, coupled with the pending birth of my first child, compelled my wife and I to start Toys n’ Tots as a way to make a difference, and to provide parents with the peace of mind that their children’s toys are not harmful. It is now common knowledge that lead exposure is most detrimental to young children and babies. In fact, a toddler will absorb up to 80% of the lead it comes in contact with, whereby adults only absorb 20%. Also, lead exposure is cumulative in nature, therefore, undetected lead exposure, over time, can cause irreversible neurological damage to young developing brains. So, we went about starting a company that could quickly and accurately screen all of a child’s toys, and allow parents to sleep at night with the knowledge that their children’s toys are safe.
The first step was to invest in the right technology for screening. After much research, we concluded that a portable XRF analyzer, which rapidly screens toys and delivers accurate measurements with 99.7% accuracy, would be the best tool for the task. The same technology is used by the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission to screen imports for banned or regulated substances. The XRF analyzer did not come cheap: the tool alone costs more than $35,000. I went through the required training regimen, became certified and registered within my state, and now we proudly offer our services to parents, daycare centers/schools, small specialty retail stores, and community events. We are often asked about those home testing kits you can buy at your local hardware store. These kits have been deemed unreliable by the Consumer Products Safety Commission, so we highly discourage parents from wasting their money on such.
We were not sure what to expect when we set out on this mission. I had a hunch that there were a lot more toys out there which remained undetected by inspections or audits and that exceeded the current limitations and regulations. Sadly this proved to be accurate.
The current limit for lead content is 600 parts per million (ppm). This limit will most likely be reduced to 100 ppm or less in some states. Our findings have uncovered items which measured more than 100,000 ppm in some cases! That’s more than 166 times the federal limit of 600 ppm. In fact, we have not conducted a screening yet in which we have not discovered several toys which far exceed federal safety standards. For a quick look at some of our findings, you can view the Hall of Shame section on our website. One conclusion we have drawn from our experience is that it is very difficult to categorize a toy type, toy brand, toy age, or even toy manufacturer as a likely suspect toy. We are finding toxins in new toys, toys from major brands, toys from different countries, all which exceed current limits. So to simplify the issue to one country or one toy type is not only misleading, quite frankly, it could be dangerous.
In the submissions that follow this introductory article, we plan on highlighting some of the more alarming, interesting, and troubling findings in an attempt to raise awareness, warn parents, and ultimately, keep our children safe. We hope you find our blog interesting and useful as you strive towards keeping your children safe. We are trying our best to do the same, one home at a time, one toy at a time.
Once again, we thank SafeToys.com for their service to concerned parents and caregivers everywhere. We look forward to joining the dialog and helping to keep parents informed.
If you would like to contact me directly, I can be reached at
*While we believe in the integrity of our contributing partners, SafeToys.com does not guarantee claims made by them.
June 11, 2008
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