Fisher price merry-go-round-toy
When tested with an XRF instrument, this vintage green and yellow plastic Fisher Price playground merry-go-round toy tested positive for Lead and Arsenic. As with most of these vintage plastic toys the variations of toxic heavy metals found in each component of the toy seems to be contingent on the color of the plastic – so the metals appear to be a component of the colorants used in creating the plastic. The item is not marked with anything to indicate the year of manufacture – although I distinctly remember playing with a toy exactly like this in the early 1970s! From the research I have done I understand that this toy was sold as part of the schoolhouse set (for the playground.)
Here are the exact XRF readings for the toy pictured:
Reading on the green plastic:
- 2,035 +/- 54 ppm Lead
- 39 +/- 36 ppm Arsenic
Reading on the yellow plastic:
- 4,897 +/- 104 ppm Lead
- 391 +/- 58 ppm Arsenic
Click here to see readings for each of the little people!
The amount of Lead that is considered unsafe in a modern / newly manufactured item intended for children is anything 90 ppm Lead or higher in the paint or coating or anything 100 ppm Lead or higher in the substrate. As a result, when modern standards are applied, these toys should not be considered safe for children to play with.
Here is a modern “50th anniversary” version of the schoolhouse set available on Amazon.
For more #SaferChoices for your family, click here.
Thank you for reading and for sharing my posts.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama
Did you do the little people?
Yes – do a search on the blog – there are a lot of them with test results
If my kids discovered these inherited toys and played with them for an hour or two (including others you have on site) is that very very bad? They are being put up now but I have a 1 year old who had one in her hand/near mouth before I took from her.