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So here's an update on my Sophie the Giraffe blog post: In case you were worried I had become a loon from loonville about all this health mumbo jumbo and hippy-type environmental "hogwash," Rest assured, I am, in fact, a loon from loonville. However, please remember that the REASON I wrote about Sophie the Giraffe's potential dangers was not so that you would all hold Sophie bonfires, but so that there would be more of a debate about what we buy, and that we would collectively continue to question companies' claims. I was taught to ALWAYS QUESTION facts and truths (which is why I was not a very popular middle school student but is also why I am such an *amazing* grad student!)

My blog was adapted as a message to pass the Safer Chemicals Act by Safer Chemicals Healthy Families. You can see the adapted blog here:

What?! Sophie the Giraffe tested toxic in France?!

And guess what? Sophie wrote back. She left a comment on my blog, then directed her blog at my false "allegations." (Let's just remember it was Lemonde.fr who originally provided these allegations). She was pissed. (It is funny that this baby toy's blog persona is bitchy). Here is what she said publicly. If you're a grammar snob like me, this might make you cringe a teensy bit:





"Also, I’m quite disappointed with the statement that my handlers in the United States only care about selling more Sophie’s. HOGWASH, I tell you. Bloody hogwash. Their parents as well and considering no one ever reached out to them about this is it is a little unacceptable to claim that their concerns are merely the bottomline."

See more:

Sophie's blog

So for the first time in my life (that I know of, if I'm wrong don't tell me please), I've found myself the target of internet insults. Feels...good? I mean, I guess it's the first time I realize that we have a kind of power in social media discourse. Little old me, with my brand new blog, pissing off Sophie the giraffe? Where could we go with this?
What's strange about this whole thing is that somehow my message about passing regulations to force companies to sell safer products got stuck at the title of my blog. Is Sophie, or is she not, toxic? Like I said, there are results from either side and I for one am certain that she is one of the safer toys out there (which is scary if safe can't really be defined internationally). Here's some more of the scoop on Nitrosamines:

My brother-in-law who is a chemist explained it to me like this:

If we look at the analysis we notice (for each Kg of rubber):

nitrosodiethylamine <0.001 mg/kg

nitrosodipropylamine <0.001 mg/kg

nitrosomorpholine <0.001 mg/kg

nitrosopyrrolidine <0.001 mg/kg

the value is under detection levels 

There have been studies on rats that show levels of toxicity:

nitrosodiethylamine 220 mg/kg 

nitrosodipropylamine 480 mg/kg

nitrosomorpholine 282 mg/kg

nitrosopyrrolidine 900 mg/kg

So here's his quick calculation :

If you have a baby who's 4 kg and a giraffe about 0.5 kg (Sophie is much lighter than that) 

nitrosodiethylamine <0.0005 mg

nitrosodipropylamine <0.0005 mg

nitrosomorpholine <0.0005 mg

nitrosopyrrolidine <0.0005 mg

So a baby would have to ingest 1 760 000 giraffes for it to be a real danger. 

Here's another article that breaks it down from the other side:

Not so fast Sophie meanies

So in conclusion, what can we do about this? (Because throwing away Sophie is obviously not going to solve the bigger problem) I found some sites that can help lead us in the right direction. For those of us not willing to sell one of our kidneys in order to buy natural, organic, vegetable based toys, just try to pick and choose with what you think is important. Maybe make one purchase to support a company you feel is taking our long-term health seriously.

http://www.healthystuff.org/


http://safemama.com/toyguide2011/


http://www.theglassbabybottle.com/


http://www.beginagaintoys.com/mission/mission.html


http://raisingnaturalkids.com/


http://healthychild.org/main/