Toy part safety

[Girltron]

This isn't a homemade toy, but it seemed the right place to post. I got Francis a "Play box NRP" from the Birdsafe Store, and when it came I realized there's thread locker on a lot of the pieces. It seems the kind of thing he would get on his beak or toes while playing, and then ingest. I emailed both the manufacturer and the birdsafe store to ask.

 

The store emailed me back right away to say they'd never had anyone tell them of a problem in ten years; but the manufacturer hasn't bothered to respond to me and it's been several days. I still haven't given the toy to Francis because I'm still leery of it. Isn't threadlocker pretty nasty stuff?

 

Anyway it didn't increase my confidence that the manufacturer didn't answer my email.

[birdhouse]

I'm only reporting on what I researched. I don't know that I'm drawing any right conclusion, so I hope others weigh in on this, as well.

 

First, I Googled "thread locker mds". That gave me a Material Data Sheet which I find is a good way to start when I question a product's safety. You can read it at http://www.industrialbolt.com/msds/metalink/HP90%20THREADLOCKER%20MSDS.pdf. Looks as though this information is all about the uncured product, so isn't very helpful with your potential issues. You will find emergency numbers on the sheet. You can call & tell them your 3 year old was chewing on whatever & act accordingly.

 

When I read this sheet, Ethyl-2-Cyanoacrylate made me flinch. Don't usually want cyanide around my babies. However, I went on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanoacrylate. Here I read that forms of this compound are used in everything from Krazy Glue to Vet sutures & are approved for human medical use as well.

 

Last thing I could think to worry about would be VOC's (Volatile Organic chemical fumes). Many compounds such as paint are safe to be around, even ingest after they've cured, but give off potentially harmful fumes until then. Some compounds never stop giving off these fumes. I have also found where compounds may be cured to where they're safe for humans but not birds. Their respiratory system is so different. I don't see where there are VOC issues with this product. But sometimes, you really have to hunt & I didn't.

 

Hope this helps. I will be very interested in everyone else's feed back.

[birdhouse]

PS to my earlier post...

 

Whatever conclusion I might have drawn about the thread locker, the lack of response from the manufacturer would not sit well with me, either. I would wonder whatever else I can't know might be incorporated into their toys. It would certainly give me some trust issues.

[Girltron]

I really appreciate your help. I'm thinking of taking a stiff brush and soap, and just scrubbing the thing really well so maybe the exposed parts of the thread locker might come off. It's a little tacky feeling to me.