Toxic Chemicals in Our Ponies?

[octocorn]

If anyone would like to safely dispose of their ponies in my childless household, just let me know!

[Heliodor]

Yes the world is full of toxins, just as it is full of plastic, but that doesn't mean you have to just accept that and surround yourself in them. If you want to reduce your daughter's exposure to these things, then I say why not.

You CAN buy more food that is not packaged in plastic. You CAN buy your daughter fewer plastic toys, more toys that have been tested and found to be safe(r) and more that are made of wood/ natural fabric.

For example I had a lovely rubberwood dollhouse when I was little which I loved. There's an ever increasing supply of these types of toys too, as more people realise the dangers of all that plastic for themselves, their kids and for the planet.

Don't let anyone's comments make you feel like you're being paranoid, I say well done for thinking about the long term health of your daughter. 

I agree with this. Why is every other comment about this here like this: 'WELL THE WORLD CAN KILL YOU WHY SHOULD YOU CARE'? The OP clearly cares. Heck, I read the OP's post, had no idea about it, and I care! I have serious health issues and the less of that crap I'm around the better. Steps can be taken to reduce exposures, including with ponies, in the OP's cases. That is perfectly legitimate.

[Pangel]

Yes the world is full of toxins, just as it is full of plastic, but that doesn't mean you have to just accept that and surround yourself in them. If you want to reduce your daughter's exposure to these things, then I say why not.

You CAN buy more food that is not packaged in plastic. You CAN buy your daughter fewer plastic toys, more toys that have been tested and found to be safe(r) and more that are made of wood/ natural fabric.

For example I had a lovely rubberwood dollhouse when I was little which I loved. There's an ever increasing supply of these types of toys too, as more people realise the dangers of all that plastic for themselves, their kids and for the planet.

Don't let anyone's comments make you feel like you're being paranoid, I say well done for thinking about the long term health of your daughter. 

I agree with this. Why is every other comment about this here like this: 'WELL THE WORLD CAN KILL YOU WHY SHOULD YOU CARE'? The OP clearly cares. Heck, I read the OP's post, had no idea about it, and I care! I have serious health issues and the less of that crap I'm around the better. Steps can be taken to reduce exposures, including with ponies, in the OP's cases. That is perfectly legitimate.

Of course you should take measures to look after yourself and those around you, but it's about balance. The immortal question - where do you draw the line?

Eat well and exercise. Don't smoke. Don't do drugs. Don't drink alcohol. Put your fingers in your ears when a siren goes past... The list goes on.

I will always remember when my fiance was working in A&E when a young, normally fit and healthy man came in. He'd slipped on black ice whilst crossing the road, and hit his head on the curb. He died on arrival. My point - you can live as healthy a lifestyle as possible, but tragedy can still strike at any time. That's the cruel reality of life.

I'm a lady of science, and there is currently nothing to say that these plastic toys have any harmful effects on me or others. If My Little Ponies are ever scientifically proven to cause cancer, would people stop buying them? Would there be a pony black market? Smoking, alcohol, and drugs are all proven to cause various illnesses, but people still use them. 

It's all about lifestyle choices - and if the OP chooses not to buy ponies, then so be it. 

[lovesbabysquirmy]

I'll match your "Plastics are scary and we shouldn't be using them" with a request to Google the ingredients in your lotions and cosmetics.  Most of those products contain 100's of chemicals that are known to be harmful in moderate doses, and since cosmetics are easily absorbed into your body, you should be more worried about that exposure than from My Little Ponies.  :-p

[Wardah]

The only thing I object to is the OP's idea that there is somehow a "safer" kind of plastic that Hasbro can use. As long as My Little Pony is vinyl ponies with hair they will have those chemicals. The only way to change that would be if they changed them into all plushies or something.

[Bow Tie]

If anyone would like to safely dispose of their ponies in my childless household, just let me know!

I second this! I'll gladly take ponies off anyone's hands. lol

[StarlightGaze]

Red plastic usually has lead (minium) in it because that's what gives it its pigment. Any plastic that's red, orange, and even yellow may have the possibility of containing lead. Just don't chew on red plastic or handle it obsessively and you should be okay. Same goes with paint.

If you are really worried about carcinogens, you can eat things like crushed apple seeds or cherry pits that contain tiny amounts of a cyanide co-enzyme that actually kills cancer cells. Just do it in moderation.

[Desert Rose]

As others have said it's great that you care so much about your child and are prepared to do what it takes to keep her safe If you feel that ponies and other plastic toys are dangerous to her and decide to remove that danger from her it's entierly up to you.

However, as others have mentioned, most toys today go through extensive tests and wouldn't be sold if they weren't safe. So to make people stop buying anything from Hasbro when there's not any real reason to as they do follow the safety precautions isn't reasonable I'm afraid.
I know I'm not about to stop buying ponies.


I'm with most here when they say most stuff is harmfull in one way or another and to worry about everything really isn't gonna make life fun (believe me, I'm living with an irrational fear of getting illnesses every day and I constantly have to remind myself that I am being irrational, that I can't go around worrying because that if anything will make me ill, and that if something bad happends it happends and to deal with it then instead of worrying about something that might never happen).

As mentioned, pretty much everything is dangerous if you're exposed to a certin amount of it. I just heard reports of a woman who drank so much water her body couldn't handle it all and it killed her. So yeh, everything can unfortunatly be dangerous in larger doses.
Just pick your battles so to say What is a bigger risk than other things? How can you limit the risks without living a life in a bubble?


Besides, the media etc. are known to blow things out of porportion. There was the mad cow decease and people became paranoid about eating meat, there was the bird flu and people became paranoid about eating birds, there were reports that chips caused cancer and people became paranoid with that. Meanwhile it was only a handfull that actually felt the effects of it. Not to mention the vaccine that people took against some of these things actually cause more trouble than the actuall illness.
So sometimes the scare and paranoia can be way worse than the actually so called problem and therefor you should take everything your read or hear with a grain of salt and make rational decitions and conclutions.


As for our precious ponies, there have been thousands of little girls ever since the 80's playing with them and yes, chewing on them etc. and I don't think anyone has actually gotten any serious illness from them. I know where you're coming from LadyMoondancer but as Wardah said, the majority of us seem to be doing just fine despite playing with MLP's as children and therefor it's fairly safe to say that the ponies are indeed safe.

[HavACrumpet452]

Ah but even wood is a product with potentially harmful chemicals. Lets not forget that formaldehyde and aspirin are two things found in wood, the former being found in all plant products. There is NO SUCH THING as formaldehyde-free wood. Oils from cedar and pine are toxic to some bugs and small mammals. Extracts of these oils are used as pesticides. Wood also can harbor many more bacteria and molds as its so porous. Mycotoxins will be present in wood toys once they are played with and covered in anything that was on your kids' hands. Pressure-treated woods have even more chemicals.

[Filthy]

I recently watched a Finnish Customs tv-show episode where they took toy samples from large lots coming into the country. They took one of each type of toy, this happened to include G3 fakies, one styling sized wannabe Pinkie Pie and one normalized orange pony. They mentioned that they want darkest possible pony to test, purple was mentioned but apparently they didn't find one so took the orange. Later on that show they revealed that they found phtalates from the ponies and they 'turned out to be knock offs' (oh really.. ) so they were not allowed to be sold.
This tells me that they test toys quite well, ponies for example have surely been tested so they wouldn't have too much of the possibly harmful chemicals in them.

[StoryDreamer]

If you are concerned about your baby maybe chewing on the ponies, give her soft plush ones until she is older not to do so.

[HavACrumpet452]

If you are concerned about your baby maybe chewing on the ponies, give her soft plush ones until she is older not to do so.

Ah but stuffed animals contain polyester, or PET, made with things like anitmony which is toxic to the lungs heart liver and skin [skin cancer is the most common cancer in the US]. If you trust the government, the anitmony is deactivated, but how many recalls on products that were once deemed safe do we need to have before we stop trusting the government?

[BerryPunch]

If you are concerned about your baby maybe chewing on the ponies, give her soft plush ones until she is older not to do so.

Ah but stuffed animals contain polyester, or PET, made with things like anitmony which is toxic to the lungs heart liver and skin [skin cancer is the most common cancer in the US]. If you trust the government, the anitmony is deactivated, but how many recalls on products that were once deemed safe do we need to have before we stop trusting the government?

jghfrehgjrfh EVERYTHING CAN BE DANGEROUS
PICKING UP A BABY CAN BE DANGEROUS

[StarlightGaze]

I'm paranoid of skin cancer so I stay out of the sun! Yep, everything is harmful in some way.

[Rosse]

Very interesting topic! I actively try to minimize toxins in my environment (for example, I mix almost all my cosmetics and hygiene products myself from scratch), but I haven't thought about them being in my plastic toys. I avoid keeping food and drink in plastic containers, but I guess it might be a risk to just hold or be around such plastics.

Have you heard back from Hasbro about it yet? Depending on what they say, perhaps if enough people email them about it, they could take steps to make their toys safer and less toxic?

It saddens me to see so many people shrug this off. Yes, you can't go through life being all paranoid and avoiding anything that makes you happy - but toxins in our environment is a huuuge issue which is just recently starting to get enough attention. Think about all of the health problems people in western societies have. If many stem, at least partially, from this issue, don't you think it's wise to take some interest in it and do something about it?