Foam Mat Brouhaha

So this one just slayed me. For C’s play area, I had bought those cool interlocking foam mats, and she practically lived on it for the first year of her life. Then comes news from Europe that Belgium and France had banned them because of toxic formamide emissions.

• http://www.papalogic.com/fail-foam-puzzle-floor-mats-pulled-from-the-market-in-france-belgium/

Reluctantly, we threw our mat out and got a cotton rug instead. Sigh. Now comes news that not all is lost! Safbaby has been testing various brands, and a couple of brands are actually formamide-free (including the brand that I just threw out, EduShapes…boo)!

• http://www.safbaby.com/the-latest-updates-on-toxic-formamide-in-foam-puzzle-play-mats-plus-chart-of-manufacturers

Anyway, now I have to figure out whether the foam bath toys we have are toxic, but in the meantime, I’m not going to give in to paranoia. Time to play!