Rubber duckie falls victim to plastic scare
May 20, 2008
Trish Crawford
LIVING REPORTER
Bath time will never be the same.
Rubber duckie, the little yellow bath toy immortalized in song by Sesame Street's Ernie, is becoming persona non grata thanks to a scare about toxins in plastics.
Duckie isn't typically rubber these days, but plastic. Manufacturers around the world produce the usually bright yellow toys – now in hundreds of poses and colours, some with squeakers – from vinyl plastics.
Parents who fear exposing their kids to Bisphenol A (BPA), the chemical used in plastic manufacturing that was recently red-flagged as a hormone disruptor, are abandoning plastic toys in droves, says Tina Martins, owner of the children's store With Child.
"We have no more plastic toys. There was so much concern about plastic in bottles and then toys. People are scared and don't want to buy plastic."
Her store on Pape Ave. in Toronto sells soft bath mitts for tub time, instead, says Martins, adding "they are coming on strong."
The mother of two teens says she put plastic toys in the tub with her kids when they were little. Her kids have grown up healthy but, Martins admits, "I do worry."
The little yellow duck, she adds, "will be sadly missed."
Debbie Ranger, owner of Macklem's children's store on Dundas St. W., says fears over BPA have caused a stampede away from all plastics.
The family-run business, founded in 1945, began carrying bath toys only in the late '70s, says Ranger.
That decade heard a lot about the iconic yellow waterfowl, thanks in part to Muppet Ernie's hit, "Rubber Duckie." Written and voiced by Jim Henson, it hit Billboard's Top 100 list in August, 1970 and climbed to No. 16 in its nine-week stay.
Duck derbies, or races, rose in popularity and just two weeks ago in Sudbury more than 13,000 of the plastic quackers floated to the finish line in the city's annual Rotary Club event. Midway games at fairs and exhibitions keep the ducks busy and last year's Guinness Book of World Records listed Charlotte Lee, of U.S.-based Duckplanet.com, as top collector with 2,583 of the toys.
Despite their popularity – and despite her family's business – Ranger says she did not have tub toys when she was a child. But she got them for her daughter, now aged 22.
When Pierrette Wiseman, 29, moved from her home in New Brunswick, she packed her childhood toy duck in a box of souvenirs that she only recently hauled out upon the birth of her first child, 2-1/2-month-old son Christophe.
Each night the bath toy provides a sweet connection between mother and child.
However, because of BPA concerns, the duck's days are numbered.
Wiseman, of Toronto, has been stalking Grassroots Environmental Products on Danforth Ave. for a safe rubber version of the toy. The supplies run out as fast as the store can get them in.
Rubber, the natural material first manufactured in the late 19th century when the first water-friendly little toys were likely hatched, has migrated back into popularity for playthings.
As well, true rubber ducks are made using natural processes such as baking, and are decorated with non-lead paint.
Grassroots manager Richard Baer says the $9.99 items are kid magnets.
"Kids love them because they are squeaky and painted bright yellow. They look friendly," he says.
"So many times I've had people come into the store, not necessarily looking to buy anything, and the child finds one and holds onto it for dear life."
Since Wiseman's infant isn't putting toys in his mouth yet, or dunking his head in the water, she feels okay with Christophe playing with her childhood duck until they can purchase a rubber replacement. Then, the plastic toy will go on a shelf with other souvenirs.
In the meantime, she and her husband regale their son with their own version of "Rubber Duckie," which never fails to make Christophe laugh.
They call it, "Bisphenol A Duckie."
Toronto Star