I love me some wire baskets.
Especially when they’re chippy.
Let’s be real: these look every mile-of-worn-out-vintage,
BUT they’re not; they’re new. So: safer. Sigh of content.
Right?
I WISH.
I recently designed a little school supply nook in our dining room.
(Part of the HARD of homeschool is finding places to store it all,
in ways that don’t make your eyes burn.)
I already had this sweet solid-maple Steger wagon circa 1940’s…
and what says *CHILDREN PRESENT*
better than a lil’ wagon?
I spent the summer with a tape measure in my purse,
shopping for (3) wire supply baskets to fit the wagon.
They needed to maximize storage space, but not be too snug.
They needed handles, for portability.
They needed little feet, so they wouldn’t scratch tables and wood floors.
They needed to look like they had a story to tell, time-worn.
It’s like hunting.
But: without bait.
Then: FOUND.
Magnolia Market had a giant clearance,
and these $42 each (calm down, heart) baskets
went on sale for: $12.60.
Thank you, Joanna.
When they arrived in their pretty box,
after I was finished with my legit happy-dance,
I noticed these little teeny tiny tags that read:
PROP 65 WARNING.
I knew what that meant, legally.
But really what I thought was: blah blah blah…
as PROP 65 tags seem to be on ‘everything’ these days.
I was prepared to IGNORE IT.
Kind of like a love-sick teen who just met her new FLAWLESS crush.
But–this is where my boys will keep ALL their current schoolwork…
daily, hard use.
So.
I contacted Magnolia.
The customer service team there is top notch, by the way.
At first, they told me that they couldn’t really help me…
that the vendor wasn’t legally required to list what chemicals prompted the warning.
It could be any of 800+ chemicals.
(That lack of disclosure will soon be changing, by the way.)
I asked if I could contact the vendor myself.
They said it wasn’t their policy.
I begged, pleaded…crawled my way to management.
And in the end, they agreed to contact the vendor for me.
Please note ~ all along they offered to simply return the baskets for me.
But I was stubborn.
I didn’t WANT a refund, I wanted: my pretties. And peace of mind.
Here is what I learned:
My question: “What materials are being used that prompt the Prop 65 warning?”
Vendor answer: “Prop 65 has a list of hundreds of chemicals that it covers. With metal/wire items (such as the basket you purchased) the materials that are the MOST PREVALENT are lead and/or cadmium. The Prop 65 law requires us to label and let the customer know if there is a possibility of it being in the product. This is required only for California.”
[EMPHASIS MINE.]
In other words–when this basket is sold in any of the remaining 49 states,
zero consumer warning is required by law.
(gulp.)
I then dug a little deeper and asked:
“How does a basket/product get approved by the Federal Government for import?
What safety protocols does it have to pass?”
Vendor answer: “Items are classified by tariffs based mostly on material and/or function. As long as the item falls within a classification that isn’t banned, then the item is approved and the importer pays a tariff associated with the classification. They do customs checks at the border and importers work with brokers to make sure items are classified properly. There are no mandatory safety protocols for this type of item.”
[EMPHASIS MINE.]
This is where I wanted to ugly-cry.
I loved those baskets.
And now, there’s no way I can justify keeping them.
Being a hippie mom is HARD.
According to OSHA:
“Cadmium and its compounds are highly toxic and exposure to this metal is known to cause cancer and targets the body’s cardiovascular, renal, gastrointestinal, neurological, reproductive, and respiratory systems.”
(NO THANKS.)
According to the EPA:
“Even low levels of lead in the blood of children can result in: behavior/learning problems, lower IQ, hyperactivity, slowed growth, hearing problems, anemia. In rare cases, ingestion of lead can cause seizures, coma and even death.”
Lead is not the dinosaur we think it is,
it’s still used in products–like Christmas lights.
I used to hyperventilate when I saw friends using Christmas lights as a prop,
posing their babies in a sea of them, wrapping them around their pudgy hands…
Snapping pics.
Touching lead and putting fingers into mouths and noses is risky.
Inhaling lead dust (think scraping books in and out of lead baskets) is risky.
It turns out, you don’t need to LICK lead to ingest bits of it.
Lead’s just not a material I want to tango with.
It might NOT be in those baskets.
The might part gives me hives.
The thing that unsettles me as a mother is…
I’ve seen these very baskets plastered all over pinterest.
In fact,
here they are on Joanna Gaine’s blog:
Do you see what I see?
Those are children’s blocks.
The kind kids like to chew and drool on.
Eeeeek, mommas.
And legally,
vendors do not have to tell us that those very baskets
we’re putting our kids’ teething toys into
potentially contain lead or cadmium…
unless they’re sold in CA.
If this is just an example of one item at the lovely Magnolia store…
imagine.
Imagine all the toxins lurking in unregulated home decor.
At alllll the stores we love.
I don’t even want to think about that.
I’m sorry for making YOU think about that.
But what we don’t know as moms…
Can potentially harm those that are so precious to us.
So for their sake, we must THINK.
I do not blame Joanna–she probably has no idea.
Sometimes we stumble into knowledge.
I stumbled, dusted myself off, and started typing.
Maybe you’ve stumbled into here.
Do I know of safe decor alternatives?
Friend, not yet.
This is all new to me.
But: I’m digging.
I’m on the hunt, again.
The trouble is: just because an item doesn’t have a warning tag,
doesn’t mean it is free from harmful chemicals.
It may just mean the vendor wasn’t legally required to disclose anything,
because the item isn’t being sold in California.
Shopping is complicated.
Reader, rest assured, I will keep you posted!
I will find sources for us to design-up-a-storm, safely.
~GONE HUNTING~
Saltbox Colonial 