History of the Green Sprouts Issue:
In early February of 2017, Lead Safe Mama discovered lead in the paint markings on a sippy cup and I wrote about it here.
On February 24, 2017, Green Sprouts hired an attorney to send me a cease and desist letter. I published the letter and my response on her website because asking someone to cease and desist sharing scientific facts that are inconvenient is, in my opinion, absurd.
You can read the letter and my response here.
On March 2, 2017, I received a formal apology from Becky Cannon, the founder and president of Green Sprouts, and Emi Kubota, the vice president.
The response is long so I was not able to reasonably include it in full as update bylines on the articles linked to above.
The full text of the apology appears below:
Dear Carissa,
We are writing to you to personally apologize on behalf of i play., Inc. for how we have handled communication with you and your readers since this situation came to light. I understand that you are committed to helping your readers make healthy choices for their families. We too are concerned mothers, parents and grandparents. Our mission is to provide our customers with safe, healthy and natural products for their babies and children. We should have reached out to you directly to address the concerns you raised on your blog and responded personally to your direct communications with our company. Thank you for revising your post about our testing methods for the Glass Sip & Straw Cups.
When we learned of the claims of leaded paint found on the glass insert of the green sprouts® Glass Sip & Straw Cup, we were shocked because the product had been tested and deemed safe. We were extremely concerned for our customers, as the health and safety of our products is an essential priority for i play. Every year, we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars testing our products and ensuring that they meet or exceed U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) standards, as well as other international standards.
Once we learned of the claims, we immediately sent more than 50 samples for additional and thorough professional testing with an accredited laboratory and shared consumer concerns with the CPSC. We were confused because although the laboratory test results indicated a trace amount of lead, none of the various testing methods showed results anywhere nearly as high as 3000 ppm.
Nevertheless, we were concerned about any potential toxic effects of trace amounts of lead, so we sent testing results to a toxicologist for his assessment. The toxicologist noted that because the glass insert of the green sprouts® Glass Sip & Straw Cup is designed to be fully contained within the protective plastic housing during normal use, it is not meant to come into contact with a child or liquids that a child would consume. Even if an adult or child comes into direct contact with the markings on the outside of the glass insert, the available (soluble) inorganic lead residue is well below the acceptable threshold of 1.0 microgram per glass.
Altough we were relieved to know that lead exposure due to drinking from the Glass Sip & Straw Cup is very unlikely, we understand that for our customers, and the safety of their families, even trace amounts of lead are a concern and should not be used in the manufacture of baby products.
We are working with the CPSC and waiting for the agency’s direction regarding its official recommendations. However, in the interim we are taking our own steps to remove this product from the market and replace it. We are sending return shipping labels to consumers and offering free replacement glass inserts (without markings of any kind) through this online form. We have stopped the sales of this product and are asking our retail partners to return any in-stock product. Going forward, we will ship new Glass Sip & Straw Cups without any markings on the glass insert. You did note that some of your readers may have already disposed of the product. They can contact us directly at contactus@iplaybaby.com and we promise to address each one of their concerns individually and do our best to rectify this situation.
We are committed to product safety and have learned from this experience. We are implementing even more rigorous processes in our quality assurance procedures to ensure the health and safety of our products. We understand that it is concerned parents like you that have been our most valuable customers and advocates. I hope that in the future we will be able to regain your trust and the trust of your readers.
Sincerely,
Becky Cannon and Emi Kubota
President & Founder, Vice President
i play., Inc.