STORM2K

By DON WALL / WFAA ABC 8

Teddy bears - children love them, put them in their mouths and play with them for security.

But how safe are they, if down the road, children are going to be hurt by them?

At Rachel Carson's alma mater, Chatham College, in Pittsburgh, Dr. Falconer, and lab technician Caitlin Corbitt, are finding dangerous levels of chemical pollutants in some of our children's favorite toys.

"We decided to go ahead and look for pesticides, while we were looking for the flame retardants, and we found both," said Dr. Renee Falconer.

The scientists take the teddy bears apart.

Pieces from the outer skin and the inner stuffing are placed in winding, bending tubes.

Solvents, acids and heat extract concentrated levels of flame retardants and pesticides -- up to 68,000 nanograms per gram, unsafe levels of chemicals capable of causing medical problems from learning disabilities to cancer.

The scientists expected to find flame retardants, but they were surprised to discover high levels of pesticides, like DDT and chlordane, toxic bug killers that have been banned in the U.S. for years.

"I was actually just at a baby shower, and I sort of cringed, when I see them give a stuffed toy," said Corbitt.

Most stuffed animals are manufactured in foreign countries, where the dangerous chemicals are still used.

But exactly how the toxins get into the teddy bears is still a mystery.

"They could be still used in the factories, they could be used in the warehouses, or they could be coming out of people's homes in our own country, we just don't know yet," says Dr. Falconer.

Tests show washing doesn't help.

"We don't wash the kids stuffed animals at all, so that's where all these toxins are ending up, so yeh, it's a scary thought," said parent, Nancy Gift.

And it's still not clear how much of the pesticides children ingest or absorb through their skin.

"I was like oooh, maybe we shouldn't play with these so much," said another parent Cindy White.

Standing out in the sun for 10 minutes may cause cancer, too.

Live a little

That is very scary. When my daughters were babies, I clearly remember our Pediatrician suggesting we choose one infant stuffed animal, the type that is made with cotton covers and stuffing. That can be washed, over and over again. I found them made by either Fisher Price or Playskool. Nina got a giraffe, which she name to Ray. Laura got a baby-doll in a pink outfit, with a hood that had bunny ears. She called her simply Bunny.

Bunny and Ray both got washed a zillion times.

Wow, I'm glad I bought these types of 'stuffed' animals, since they both slept with them. Add that up, and that amounts to 12+ hours a night, as a baby times 365 days a year.

As they got older, I allowed traditional stuffed animals.

Thanks for the alert, indirectly for other parents (my kids are teens now).

Mary

In my early years of grade school I had a favorite teddy...a Smokey Bear bear.

And now...back to present 40+ reality.

Eric

New study finds Storm2k causes Cancer.

Gosh, no one is safe from nothing these days.

LOL
I mean is it just teddy bears? I think not. My 3 year old sleeps with so many stuffed animals there in no room for her. I just threw them all in the dryer to kill the dust mites, but I guess I should be worried about more than dust mites. One of my 7 year olds was the same way, had to have all 100 animals to go to sleep. Also the twins each had thier own special animals they attached to early on and kept till they were almost 5, that were washed over and over. I am not so sure that it can be absorbed in the skin, really. And if so, it is in minewt amounts. I think if you were eating the stuffing then maybe you may have a problem. If you look hard enough you can find something bad that could kill you in everything. I don't know if I buy this.