We recently brought you the article on the prevalence of cadmium in children’s toys and the lead-like dangers that cadmium poses. Many of you were as up-in-arms as we were about the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) weak proposal to the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM).
I am happy to report that PureBebe has taken action. We wrote an email to the CPSC Secretary, Todd Stevenson, demanding action, which you can read here. Concern for our children’s safety is something that none of us should take lightly. Unless we all band together and demand change, we’re going to keep seeing cadmium recalls from the CPSC and Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Keep reading below how you can take quick, simple steps to make a difference, too.
1. Demand action by the CPSC!
Write the CPSC and let them know how you feel about their weak response to the ASTM. Don’t worry, we’ve done the heavy lifting for you.
Feel free to copy and paste the text below, in an email to the CPSC Secretary Todd Stevenson using the email address tstevenson@cpsc.gov. So far, I have not heard a peep back from him. You know what I say? The more letters, the merrier. 
Dear Secretary Todd Stevenson,
I have recently been alerted to the prevalence of cadmium in children’s products by reading PureBebe.com’s article.
I do not believe that the CPSC has taken a harsh enough stance on cadmium and would like to see a guideline in place similar to that of CPSC’s Lead guidelines, whereby a product may not contain more than a specific % of cadmium.
A very concerned parent,
Your Name Here
2. Spread the word!
You know the drill, the more people that we can get behind this, the more likely that something will change. Please feel free to copy and past the URL of this story into an email to your friends, or send it out via Twitter and/or Facebook. The buttons at the bottom of this story should help you get the word out as effortlessly as possible.
This holiday season, remember to choose your child’s gifts (and yours) carefully.
Stay away from buying cheap metal wares, and products that contain metal parts, like cell-phone charms, hair accessories and jewelry. Many of the items with detected cadmium are made in China.
You can also take an inventory of your children’s toys and check the recall list on the CPSC website.
The CPSC recall site provides a description and photos of each recalled product.
Unfortunately I couldn’t find any DIY test kits for cadmium. The only inspector kits with positive ratings/reviews that I could find were for lead. There was one test available to check toxic metal content in urine, but appeared to be a marketing gimmick, always reading positive in order to persuade people into buying yet more tests. When and if I find a reliable DIY test, we will let you know.
Let us know if you write a letter to the CPSC Secretary and if you hear anything back from him! Together, we can make a difference in the quality of products that our children are exposed to.
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I confess I’ve never EVER written to anyone like this before. I just did!! I copied your format, adding a few things to personalize it, and sent it. Thanks for getting me going on this!! Kathryn’s hit the “I love jewelry” stage and Clara is at the point where everything she touches goes in her mouth. Yikes!
Woo hoo! Thanks for taking the time to do this, Talia! It’s liberating, isn’t it? Hopefully if we can get others to follow suit, we won’t have these same dangers to write about next year.
Thanks so much for taking the lead. Like Talia, I sent him an email, too. Let’s hope that guidelines are set in place soon.
Yes, hoping that we won’t have to worry about this again next holiday season. I went through the massive list of recalled toys (for lead) on the CPSC site today and wow – definitely don’t want to go through that again with cadmium. Even Disney toys with a key ring on them (the key ring had lead!). Thanks for taking the time to make our voices heard, Andy!