I'm totally in a quandary now. I've gotten over the
news and somehow
managed to accept the fact that crib mattresses off-gas yucky chemicals
and my son is breathing those chemicals on the off nights he doesn't
spend in my bed (which is equipped with a foam mattress from Ikea
that's clearly chock-full of its own chemicals), after all he has to
sleep somewhere, but now I have to worry about his car seat?
I think I need to go sit down a moment. Hang on.
Okay. I was going to take a couple of deep breaths but I think I'm afraid to now.
But I like me some Huffington Post, and when I read something like "A new report released today by the Ann Arbor-based Ecology Center shows
that chemicals including PVC, brominated flame retardants, and lead are
found in car seats and can possibly lead to developmental and health
issues in babies,"
I can't help but take notice. Say what? What are we supposed to do with
this news? Kids have to be in car seats, there's no question about
that, but now we have to worry about poisoning them while they're
"safe" in their seat?
There's something wrong here.
You
could argue that chemicals are already everywhere, so what's a few
more? And you'd likely be right. I'm not one to jump on every
sky-is-falling scare trend and worry about every little thing, after
all I've got four kids and I don't even think twice about the
five-second or even thirty-minute rule, if the little one wants it
badly enough, but just like with all the toxic lead in kids' jewelry I
have to wonder: WTF? Doesn't anyone think about these things before
zillions are manufactured and our kids are developing asthma or
Multiple Chemical Sensitivity or even worse, developmental difficulties, all because we're slowly being poisoned by better living through chemicals?
As I see it, you could have one of two three reactions to all this:
1. Roll your eyes and proceed as per normal. What's a few more chemicals? They're everywhere.
2. OMG CHEMICALS! AGGHHHHH! Pack up and move your family into the mountains and live off the grid.
3.
Shrug a little and try to minimize exposure if you can. Think about it
but try not to feel guilty. It's a car seat; what can you do? Look out
the window and enjoy life. Hug your kid. Consider activism.
