Don’t give me no hand-me-down toys

In 1970, The Guess Who sang, “Don’t give me no hand-me-down shoes.” Correct grammar aside, we’d like to add a lyric: “Don’t give me no hand-me-down toys.”

You can find old toys in Grandma’s attic, on the internet or at a garage sale. Maybe it’s a Lionel train set, an old dollhouse or building blocks. Look, but don’t buy! Regulations on toy safety, in both the U.S. and the U.K., came into effect in 1985 to 1986. Before then, there were no across-the-board safety standards for toys.

What that means, according to a new study in Environmental Science and Technology, is that many manufacturers used toxic materials. U.K. researchers, using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, analyzed 200 toys, including cars, trains, construction products, figures and puzzles, building blocks, figurines and jewelry made before safety directives were implemented. What they found was astounding: high concentrations of antimony, barium, bromine, cadmium, chromium, lead and selenium. How’d we survive this long?

As the researchers point out, “… there is no retroactive regulation on second-hand toys.” So handme-downs that are family treasures or inexpensive online-finds may come with quite a cost. The best bet? When buying for children, steer clear of toys made before the mid-1980s.

NSAIDS can get nasty!

Tension headaches will afflict probably everyone at one time or another. Add to that the fact that 100 million folks in the U.S. deal with chronic pain, and it’s hardly surprising that 30 billion doses of prescription and over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, like ibuprofen, naproxen sodium and celecoxib, are consumed annually in the U.S. Only 70 million are for prescription NSAIDS; the rest are self-prescribed and taken however you (and you and you) determine.

Little wonder a new study out of Boston University School of Medicine found that many adult ibuprofen users make health-threatening mistakes when taking those meds. Fifteen percent took more than the maximum recommended dose in a one-week period. Overdoses also occurred from: (1) taking too much daily; (2) taking two different NSAIDS at the same time; or (3) failing to wait long enough between doses.

The bottom line: Never use an NSAID for pain for more than 10 days without talking with a doctor. And drink at least 8 ounces of water per pill.

Email questions for Mehmet Oz and Mike Roizen to youdocsdaily@sharecare. com.