Foam Playmats-Recent Health Warning

[Miss.B]

Hi,

Don't know if this is in the right place (mods you can move it to a more appropriate area), but has anyone heard that there has been a huge product recall overseas on the foam play mats made in China because there is something in the foam that has been linked to cancer??? I've heard this through a friend today and then I asked another friend who has a mat like mine (the alphabet one from Kmart) and she confirmed she knew about it and someone else told her about it too. I googled it today and apparently they are now testing the foam here in Australia to see if there is a harmful substance it it that is harmful to babies/infants/children. If it is true, it makes me feel sick to my stomach to think that my 11 month old DS has been not only playing but CHEWING on the foam for the last 2 months!!

Beata.

[willow5]

Crap! I have that one too!! I think I'll put it away until it's confirmed. Thank you for posting!

[feeb]

I actually got rid of ours ages ago as 1 it always smelt funny even with me pino cleanining!!
Also got sick of moving them to vacum and mop as DS1 always pulled apart and chewed.

Worrying the risks they are talking about.

[Roryrory]

Beata that is scary! I hope the testing shows it is ok. But I would stay away from most things made in China. My reasoning is "Well they put melamine in INFANT FORMULA so I hardly think they would care what goes into anything else..."

[Miss.B]

Gosh, I really hope that the mats are harmless but from what I read on the internet (I google a lot, lol) it doesn't look good. They have recalled them in France and Belgium. The article on the net said that it's the formamides in the foam that has been linked to cancer, but that 'the consumers need to be assured the mats are safe for children'.....WTF????? I honestly feel sick now. I've put my mat away and told mum to put hers away too.

[willow5]

The article on the net said that it's the formamides in the foam that has been linked to cancer, but that 'the consumers need to be assured the mats are safe for children'.....WTF????? I honestly feel sick now.

I just read that too, and thought the same thing! If they are assuring us they are safe, why are they testing them then??? They can't assure us safety until after they test!

[Miss.B]

I agree Willow. They are contradicting themselves! I don't know why they let those kind of products go on our shelves to be sold to probably mlillions of people and put our babies' health at risk! Don't they test the products before they sell them ESPECIALLY if babies will be in contact with them and we all know what babies do, they eat/chew everything in sight!

[willow5]

I'm actually really p***** at myself too. I only use BPA free cups, plates bowls snack boxes, and toys(when they're plastic) No processed food, and organic wherever we can(would love to be able to afford to have organic everything!)Cloth nappies. We try to be as green as we can be, and I somehow let this one in with out a thought

[Miss.B]

Oh hun, be kind to yourself, how could you have known? I am so over the top careful with everything too, but I honestly didn't see this one coming!! I should have known not to trust anything from China!!! But then again, isn't everything made in China these days????? Besides, we still don't know if that foam is toxic, but something in my gut tells me that it is

[willow5]

Thanks Miss.B. I thought the same too, how stupid to trust something made in China, but to be honest I don't know if I even checked Like Rory said about the formula and melamine as if they're worried about a foam play mat. Well I've pulled it up now and it or they rather, I have 2 of them can go in the trash pack in the morning. I won't wait for tests, like you my gut says get rid of them! Thanks again for posting, I didn't see the articles at all.

[Miss.September]

These are the big alphabet rubber mats where they lock in together like a jigsaw puzzle and the letters can come out???????

[willow5]

These are the big alphabet rubber mats where they lock in together like a jigsaw puzzle and the letters can come out???????

Yep they're the ones.

[Miss.September]

Bloody hell.

[willow5]

I know!

[Gigi]

plastic is made from petroleum, think about how baby toys and gadgets are made from plastic. (fumes)
think about how much baby stuff is made from PVC (fumes) - bibs, nappy change mats, nappy bags, change table foam mats covered with pvc, mattress protectors for the cot/bed, toys.
i put foam baby stuff in the same catergory.

a baby can't read, so i don't get teh ABC 123 idea. a baby needs textures and smells to explore, things to grasp, things to gum on - i don't understand why foam mats are seen as a positive thing for a baby to play on. It's been widely understood for years, that babies can die, thru swallowing the little balls of foam inside beanbags. it's not a huge stretch to think that sometimes babies/toddlers would take a piece of a foam mat and break it/snap it into smaller pieces, which they might put in their mouths - - -

this topic is a mystery to me.
just because a baby product is produced, manufactured and sold, does not mean it is necessarily a good idea for a baby, or even SAFE for a baby.

I never realised (before i had a child), how LITTLE baby products are monitored. it's a capitalist society, i know, but i had naively assumed that there would be rules to make sure only SAFE products were allowed to be sold. i have since discovered so many things, that contain dangerous toxins, are sold in containers that are not childproof that should be, so many toys made out of things that i believe are harmful or potentially harmful for children.

Having a child, has made me explore things, in a way i never did before, because now, i am not just responsible for me, i am responsible for a growing little person. And that has made me investigate stuff on a whole deeper level. Not as much as an activist or consumer advocate would, but much more than i ever had before in my life.

[Gigi]

i googled for this issue and found this

"
Kidsafe Victoria has prompted an investigation into the safety of Chinese-made children's foam play mats after they were banned in France and Belgium.
The popular interlocking foam mats, with alphabets and other designs, have been found to contain formamides which have been linked to cancer.
Formamide is also toxic to the reproductive system and can pose harm to fetuses and infants and exposure can cause eye, nose, throat and skin irritation.
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Kidsafe Victoria president Dr Mark Stokes says the ACCC will begin testing the mats to see if they are safe for children.
"Children should not be exposed to high level toxic products," Dr Stokes said.
"Young children are potentially at most risk as they have a tendency to place everything in their mouths.
"Tests need to be conducted to see if these toxins are present in products available in Australia, and if so, in what levels."

[RainbowBrite]

That is really bad isn't it...I am sure there are 1000's of these things in homes
I was going to get some but didn't like the smell of them...they smelt a bit chemically.
I am glad now.

[Lisa]

Eeeeek! We just got 2 sets of these for the little ones for Christmas to distinguish their little play area from our living area. Anelise was constantly pulling them apart and chewing on them so I picked them all up and stacked them on top of their play kitchen for the moment. Looks like they're gonna be put in the bin!