safety scare over go go hamsters

[borderslass]

For those of you who are trying to get them.
HERE

I have a Mr Squiggles and am a bit worried about it. Will watch out for more news on it before i panic. DD is 6 so woun't put it in her mouth but can it be bad if fingers are put in the mouth after playing with it because she is a thumb sucker.

I don't know about safe but DD has one that broke in less than 24 hours. All that fuss and it now doesn't move. I've also got them for mine and DH's nieces, am tempted to take the flippin' lot back now.

SexOnFire, I don't have any advice about Go Go Hamsters as thankfully dd doesn't seem to be aware of them. However, I do have a brand new HSM dance mat which I bought in the sale a while ago but I think is too old for my dd aged 5.

I'd be more than happy to send it to you if you think your dd would like it for Christmas. It says age 6+ but I think it would suit older.

i am waiting on further testing and reports before i decide what to do.

SexonFire if there turns out to be an official safety recall then you can return them via manufacturer without a receipt regardless of how you bought them.

Unless I am told the furry little buggers blow up or similar I will not get rid.......do you know how much trouble I went to to get them!

pookabelle- that is so very very thoughtful of you. Unfortunately DD doesn't like HSM as there are disgusting lovely boys and yuck kissing in it. Apparently.

That's Ok

"antimony at levels of 93 and 106 parts per million, above the 60 parts per million allowed under US regulations."

max of 46 parts per million over the US limit doesn't sound that bad to me. what is uk limit?

"Professor Dara O'Rourke, from GoodGuide, said antimony "has potential health hazards related to it which, if ingested in high enough levels can lead to cancer, reproductive health and other human health hazards"."

For me the key in that is IF ingested in HIGH ENOUGH levels, - in my mind that means they're sat chewing the thing in day in and day out

Trying to find the EU "safe" levels - have found that in the US 6 parts per million for content in drinking water.

snurk

This is one study. Manufacturers are disputing it saying the hamsters have passed all safety tests both here and in US.

www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6947102.ece

GoodGuide admits that it did not use officially-approved methodology for testing the toys.

A spokesman said: ?We did not test these toys using the new government standard for toy companies to determine the ?soluble? level of contaminants in a toy.

?While GoodGuide considers the presence of any antimony on the surface of a toy to be a concern, we want to clarify that we used a testing methodology to evaluate the toys that is different from the testing methodology incorporated into the federal standards.?

Oh SoF, that sucks (lovely to 'see' you though, drop in to PN thread sometimes!) - can you give the present to DD but just explain that it's a toy for her room only?

Well i have 3 hamsters, i can't remember which ones i have but i have a feeling its all of them apart from mr S , fingers crossed i have got num num's (deffintly got chunk and the yellow one).

I'm sure there's nothing to worry about or they would be refunding people?

dd2 still puts things in her mouth but i don't think she could fit a hamster in. .

Hi Ewe, will pop in, been a bit slack .

Unfortunately DD and DS share a room, not that DS has any respect for personal space anyway.

oh arse, i just checked which 2 hamsters i hvae got and one of them is mr squiggles.
is it def only mr squiggles affected - the others will be ok to give wont they??

Character (online) are saying all the hamsters are safe, apparently the people in the US who decided to test Mr squiggles did not even have the correct equipment to test the toys (so the tests were not correct), character are saying they have tested the toys and they are up to EU and US standards.

Personally - and I am just saying htis personally - I really wouldn't worry.

Antimony is in LOADS of stuff - matches, paint, clothing, enamel coating, flame retardant materials...

Unless your child is planning to rip apart the animal and ingest hundreds of hamster noses I can't see how they could ingest anywhere near harmful levels.

theyoungvisiter and others (sorry not mentioning all names) you speak sense. If it wasn't for DS I don't think I would be too bothered. As DS ingests things he shouldn't on a daily basis (rubbers, shampoo, toothpaste, crayons)I'm afraid that Mr Squiggles may be the nose that breaks the camel's back, toxically speaking.

I wouldn't worry. Personally, I think that if there was a real risk, the manufacturer would have withdrawn them immediately.

The difference between 60 parts per million and 93 parts per million must be almost undetectable. I can't imagine it's significant. Testers have to set the threshold somewhere, but we are talking about infinitesimally tiny amounts more, of a substance that people would probably be happy with (or unaware of) if it were at or below the threshold.

And I still don't know what the feck a GoGo Hamster is! Sounds like something you'd go to s strip club for.