Are G1 ponies safe?

[Haruna]

It's a bit too late to be asking this question, ha ha, since I don't plan to kick the G1 collecting habit now, but I thought I'd bring it up for discussion. Ever since I learned that, apparently, 1980s toys including My Little Ponies may contain hazardous amounts of lead (or even cadmium or arsenic) and that they aren't recommended for children's play (which stinks because I've imagined giving them to my someday-daughters), I've wondered if they're safe for adult collectors. (I'd post a link to the sites I've read this on but I'm not sure it's allowed . . . ) Like, are we touching lead every day and slowly poisoning ourselves? Should we be wearing masks and handling ponies with gloves? What about hazmat suits? I know it's a weird question, but I thought it worth asking. What do you guys think? Are G1s safe? Would things change for you if they aren't?

[Baby Sugarberry]

That's a hard question to answer, since 'safe' is relative.

Personally I have no concerns about handling my collection without safety gear and I don't treat them quite as cautiously as say, my vintage lead miniatures, where touching means immediate hand washing afterwards.  That said I am an adult collector and I am not going to put my ponies in my mouth nor chew on them. (The horror!)

I would not give G1's to a young child unsupervised.  While there are many, many far more dangerous things a kid could munch on (many houseplants are toxic, household cleaners, medications, etc.) there's no sense in taking that extra risk.  Mostly you'll see warnings on auctions 'for adult collectors only' because people don't want to assume the perceived risk of Crazy Dumb Parents.  (Kinda seems doubtful they'd have a legal leg to stand on but who knows.)

[Nemesis]

I played with them as a kid... had no idea about this. o_0;

It's worth noting that children absorb lead at a much, MUCH higher percentage than adults (I believe the statistic is around 10% possible absorption in adults versus a whopping 50% in children!). Sure, you don't want to roll around in lead shavings or anything... but lead warnings about old toys are usually issued because of the toys' potential to fall into the hands (and mouths) of children.

Also bear in mind that, disturbingly enough... pretty much everything is "toxic". Your indoor carpeting puts off "toxic" fumes; the dyes in your clothes could have hazardous ingredients; your tupperware could be pumping phthalates into your food... Without resorting to neo-primitivism, it's pretty much impossible to live a "toxin-free" lifestyle. Use caution in regards to chemicals, but be practical... Your body is far more likely to be damaged by the preservatives in our food and the pollutants in the air than from handling a plastic pony now and again.

[SunbeamV]

I know which articles you're talking about, and I've been having the same concerns recently since my health is already quite poor and I don't want to take any more chances, lol.

But I do also know that we're always coming into contact with trace amounts of harmful substances like lead, arsenic, and cadmium on a daily basis regardless, and I think g1s are perfectly fine in the hands of adult collectors who won't put ponies in their mouths and chew off ears, etc.

I do wear rubber gloves to handle certain g1s, I will say. I remember an article on the subject mentioned that yellow pigment was the worst offender for toxicity, and with how quickly the g3 divine shine ponies have deteriorated I get a little squicked thinking about all the chemicals keeping the translucent g1s so vibrant. But I think gloves and plenty of handwashing if you're nervous, and keeping ponies out of the hands (and mouths!) of the kiddos is more than enough to avoid problems 

[Taffeta]

I think we would need firm actual proof as to whether this is a risk factor for g1 or whether it is general guidance for old toys rather than specifically relevant to us. Probably we would need someone to do lab tests. I would personally rather react to proven data in the right way than general data without firm guidance.

Maybe toy safety regulations would also provide clues...I know here in the UK lead was already strictly regulated in kids toys by the 1970s. Of course regulated does not necessarily mean absent. It might also be a concern with sone Nirvana of poorer production quality more than mainstream ponies which probably had to meet global rather than specific requirements.

[banditpony]

I think we would need firm actual proof as to whether this is a risk factor for g1 or whether it is general guidance for old toys rather than specifically relevant to us. Probably we would need someone to do lab tests. I would personally rather react to proven data in the right way than general data without firm guidance.

Maybe toy safety regulations would also provide clues...I know here in the UK lead was already strictly regulated in kids toys by the 1970s. Of course regulated does not necessarily mean absent. It might also be a concern with sone Nirvana of poorer production quality more than mainstream ponies which probably had to meet global rather than specific requirements.

https://neha.org/node/1310
You can find the PDF research document through that webpage. I assume this is what OP is referring to

[Leave a Whisper]

We haven't suffered any ill effects. Just don't chew on em or give em to little ones who chew on em and you should be fine.

[Taffeta]

I think we would need firm actual proof as to whether this is a risk factor for g1 or whether it is general guidance for old toys rather than specifically relevant to us. Probably we would need someone to do lab tests. I would personally rather react to proven data in the right way than general data without firm guidance.

Maybe toy safety regulations would also provide clues...I know here in the UK lead was already strictly regulated in kids toys by the 1970s. Of course regulated does not necessarily mean absent. It might also be a concern with sone Nirvana of poorer production quality more than mainstream ponies which probably had to meet global rather than specific requirements.

https://neha.org/node/1310
You can find the PDF research document through that webpage. I assume this is what OP is referring to

Yeah, I've seen that report before, but I'll explain what I mean by it not being overly clearcut from my perspective. Please remember I'm not a scientist, so I may just be being an idiot, but looking at it as I would analyse anything in my research field, what I'm getting from it is the following:

Spoiler

-Old toys can contain lead.

-MLP is listed as a tested toy under the category 1970s-1980s PVC. That is a very wide category, taking into consideration two decades of toys. You'd expect therefore a wide range of products to fit into this category.

-Number of toys tested overall in this category was apparently 26 (presume different brands) This is fewer than the non PVC test, which means by definition that each item carries heavier weight in the % calculation (26/100 vs 77/100).

- The smaller testing pool probably also indicates higher likelihood of each toy containing some material, but again it is not clear how many or which, because it is not possible to add up the number recorded (over 26) because of duplicated results that are not identified as such. Remember we are also talking about 26 toys selected from potentially any year of production from 1970-1989, and any production company and country. Those are not specified, although I think for this investigation they are really important (especially for those of us who collect multiple old toys).

-The report figures doesn't state which toys contained which material. It only states number of toys in the category, and number that contained a material.

So the numbers are vague, not specific. They indicate a potential problem but don't tell us what it is or how far it extends in terms of vintage toys. We need to look at the write up for that information.

The write up of the experiment for this category does not mention my Little Pony once. It mentions specifically different shades of tone and the impact of lead, but it cites examples of Barbie skin tone and barbie shoes rather than anything relating to MLP. We could draw the assumption from this that darker coloured MLPs are more dangerous, or we could draw the assumption that MLP were not toys in the category that contained lead. The reality is that because we don't have a specific reference to MLP here, we just don't know.

Barbie were made by Mattel in Mattel factories, and there's nothing specific in that report for Hasbro made pony products in the same time period, made in different factories from a different balance of ingredients.

We need to know for sure with a test specifically on MLP rather than general information before we know to what degree there might be danger in our toys. From what I can see, this report does not say anything about lead in MLP. The only mention it makes of MLP that I can see is that they were included in the tests, not that they form part of either the 69% or the 31%. Therefore as I said before we need actual specific lab tests on MLP that give us specific readings and information before we can know if this is or isn't something we need to pay attention to.

If I misread the science, then I am open to correction xD. But I don't think this tells us anything at all about whether or not G1 is safe.

[Carrehz]

We haven't suffered any ill effects. Just don't chew on em or give em to little ones who chew on em and you should be fine.

Mmmhm, this is my view on it too. I dunno why we need a thread about this every few months, haha.

[KarentheUnicorn]

Are G1 ponies safe?

No.

I have evidence that they cause a very serious illness. It's horrible in fact. I'm a survivor of this horrible illness.

See, this one day when I was around 11 I went to the store with my mother and she allowed me to buy 2 my little pony.

Little did I know what a mistake that was. 34 years later I am still dealing with this terrible affliction.

See, these little monsters multiply and take over your bedroom and next think you know you've got a full blown pony infection...

There is no cure.

[banditpony]

I think we would need firm actual proof as to whether this is a risk factor for g1 or whether it is general guidance for old toys rather than specifically relevant to us. Probably we would need someone to do lab tests. I would personally rather react to proven data in the right way than general data without firm guidance.

Maybe toy safety regulations would also provide clues...I know here in the UK lead was already strictly regulated in kids toys by the 1970s. Of course regulated does not necessarily mean absent. It might also be a concern with sone Nirvana of poorer production quality more than mainstream ponies which probably had to meet global rather than specific requirements.

https://neha.org/node/1310
You can find the PDF research document through that webpage. I assume this is what OP is referring to

Yeah, I've seen that report before, but I'll explain what I mean by it not being overly clearcut from my perspective. Please remember I'm not a scientist, so I may just be being an idiot, but looking at it as I would analyse anything in my research field, what I'm getting from it is the following:

Spoiler

-Old toys can contain lead.

-MLP is listed as a tested toy under the category 1970s-1980s PVC. That is a very wide category, taking into consideration two decades of toys. You'd expect therefore a wide range of products to fit into this category.

-Number of toys tested overall in this category was apparently 26 (presume different brands) This is fewer than the non PVC test, which means by definition that each item carries heavier weight in the % calculation (26/100 vs 77/100).

- The smaller testing pool probably also indicates higher likelihood of each toy containing some material, but again it is not clear how many or which, because it is not possible to add up the number recorded (over 26) because of duplicated results that are not identified as such. Remember we are also talking about 26 toys selected from potentially any year of production from 1970-1989, and any production company and country. Those are not specified, although I think for this investigation they are really important (especially for those of us who collect multiple old toys).

-The report figures doesn't state which toys contained which material. It only states number of toys in the category, and number that contained a material.

So the numbers are vague, not specific. They indicate a potential problem but don't tell us what it is or how far it extends in terms of vintage toys. We need to look at the write up for that information.

The write up of the experiment for this category does not mention my Little Pony once. It mentions specifically different shades of tone and the impact of lead, but it cites examples of Barbie skin tone and barbie shoes rather than anything relating to MLP. We could draw the assumption from this that darker coloured MLPs are more dangerous, or we could draw the assumption that MLP were not toys in the category that contained lead. The reality is that because we don't have a specific reference to MLP here, we just don't know.

Barbie were made by Mattel in Mattel factories, and there's nothing specific in that report for Hasbro made pony products in the same time period, made in different factories from a different balance of ingredients.

We need to know for sure with a test specifically on MLP rather than general information before we know to what degree there might be danger in our toys. From what I can see, this report does not say anything about lead in MLP. The only mention it makes of MLP that I can see is that they were included in the tests, not that they form part of either the 69% or the 31%. Therefore as I said before we need actual specific lab tests on MLP that give us specific readings and information before we can know if this is or isn't something we need to pay attention to.

If I misread the science, then I am open to correction xD. But I don't think this tells us anything at all about whether or not G1 is safe.

I'm not a scientist.

The way I read it is that there were different standards back in the 80s then today. Whatever is found in those toys was probably ok back then.

Oh. And I think that it's likely that some ponies probably have toxic color in their paint.i don't have anything to back it up, I just think some pigments are toxic...

[Taffeta]

Oh, there probably were different standards. I know our toy rules about lead have changed several times over the years. I also know the EU have very strict standards on stuff like this, and that the EU is a lot older than people think - we joined in the 1970s, but it existed as the Economic Area before that, which would have had an impact. If the US rules were much different, UK stores would not have been able to import US issue toys as we know did happen, so I think probably the US standards then were the same kind of level. That's not to say there are no toxins, but the level of risk, if any, is the thing which is not clear.

I personally don't think we're talking about a large risk because if it was particularly horrible, that report would have singled MLP out. I'm a historian, though. I like to see a case proved before I will go along with it. I don't think there's a point in panicking without actual proof, which as far as I see, thus far doesn't exist.

I think that until someone more scientific does a specific pony test on our behalves, we can't know. And it's silly to panic over a report that neither says MLP are or are not dangerous. What is the quote from Fantastic Beasts? "Worrying means you suffer twice."

When there's some hard proof that MLP are a risk then that's another matter. Right now we all grew up with them and there were no stories of children getting poisoning or anything else. And as baby Sugarberry said, there are toxins in a lot of things, not least in the air we breathe in heavily polluted cities of traffic fumes. I would be more worried about those for people's health right now than some old toys.

Uni's suggestion though I am absolutely in agreement with. G1 MLP definitely causes pony addiction.

[KarentheUnicorn]

As long as you don't eat the ponies...you'll all be fine.

[banditpony]

That's not to say there are no toxins, but the level of risk, if any, is the thing which is not clear.

See. That's pretty much similar to what I think.

I do think there are toxins within some of the pigments, but who knows how much. I am doubtful that it would cause risk to adults.

[Leave a Whisper]

As long as you don't eat the ponies...you'll all be fine.

You...you mean MLPs aren't for eating? Why does no one tell me these things?