Friday, November 16, 2012

Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories


When looking a research there are many positives that come about. Positives are usually not focused on as negatives are. This week I would like to share a positive example of the effects of research that can affect a child. While I was taking my undergraduate classes at Ashland University a professor and some of his students began researching the lead consistency of Halloween toys that are usually given to children at parties such as classroom parties. These could be plastic buckets, spider rings, vampire teeth etc. They found that “Items like a witch candy bucket tested at 88,900 ppm; a treat basket with pumpkin ornament tested at 87,800 ppm, and fake “ugly” teeth tested at 65,200 ppm.” (2007). The acceptable levels of lead were 600 parts per million (ppm), or 99.97 percent lead-free. (2007). All of these items were recalled. I believe that this research was so important and helps many children not have contact with items that contained lead in them. Lead is so dangerous and can cause serious health problems. I also like this example because of how the research was conducted. They did not put any person in harm of the lead and used safe procedures. This research also helped change the ratio of how much lead can be in toys and the stricter evaluation process of imports coming to the United States. I am glad that this research took place before all the children received those toys. If you would like to read about these stories you can visit these sites:


Reference
2007. Ashland University Professor and Senator Brown Give Progress Report on Safety of Halloween Toys Sold in Ohio. http://www.ashland.edu/news/2012-01-09/alumni/ashland-university-professor-and-senator-brown-give-progress-report-safety-ha

4 comments:

  1. I agree with you. That one did not harm and any children and it is amazing how many costumes that we would wear in the eighties and late seventies that would be a safety hazard today. Sometimes these studies are necessary.

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  2. Abigail, I love your blog because it is an eye-opener about the toys that are out for our kids to play with. C'mon.. I mean they are toys...Toys are hurting our children. I still see buckets, fake teeth, and glow in the dark eyeballs etc. Its weird, I wish I could test the toys myself to see the lead content in the toys that the stores are selling. Thank-you for the information.

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  3. Hi Abigail-
    What an interesting research study. I would have never imagined to test such a topic, and it has never crossed my mind that these types of Halloween objects would contain lead. Glad to hear the items were recalled. The students conducting this study must have been very proud of their accomplishments...not to mention the parents!! Thanks for the info!

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  4. Abigail, I agree research which help us to help children is good research, for it is our duty to protect children all the time in every area. We learned eary in life not to use lead on our children toys, I have a consin now who as a child ate paint with lead in it. He is a special need adult to this day, due to lead. Research is very necessary for all kind of things. Thanks for sharing.

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