Non-toxic Building Blocks for 3 Year-old Boy?

Cellulose acetate was dropped from Legos in favor of ABS plastic in 1963. ABS, which stands for acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, is more stable and holds colors better than does cellulose acetate. This tough plastic is also used extensively to make items such as automobile parts and building materials. ABS is still used today in the production of LEGO toys. In addition to the properties noted above, ABS is non-toxic, rustproof, heat-resistant, resistant to most organic acids and diluted inorganic acids, resistant to salt and animal oils and fats. Hopefully, your LEGO bricks will never see most of these elements anyway! Oh, and ABS is also sterile.

I think Duplo are the bigger blocks Lego makes for younger kids. Lego is Denmark based and I think their standards for plastics (and keeping harmful substances out of them) are more stringent than USA standards. We're big Lego fans and they have pretty much taken over the playroom.

Try the Healthy Child Healthy World website. That's what their organization is all about. Go Dad! Wish I had known more about these things when my kids were young....

If they need to be plastic, the Lego is the way to go.

Now one thing you could also look into are wooden blocks, and there are quite a number of untreated ones on the market...some made in the USA.

Good luck!

We love Lego Duplo around here, but my kids also like the set of untreated wooden unit blocks we have from Landmark Maple. They are made in the USA and great quality, but pretty expensive. We tried the foam type ones but they fall over too easily and my kids get frustrated.

Everything that Discovery Toys sells is non-toxic. The products are made in China, but have high quality standards and are all BPA free. You can see them all at http://www.discoverytoyslink.com/karenchao My favorite blocks are these (which are only available thru 8/31 - so shop now!):

http://www.discoverytoyslink.com/esuite/control/product?P...

Also available as part of a larger set: http://www.discoverytoyslink.com/esuite/control/product?P...

Thanks!
K.