When I read this, my heart absolutely sank. My child loves bounce houses. When she was a preemie, she had a sensory issue where she needed constant input and bounced or rocked all of the time. She still rocks sometimes as a self-soothing mechanism. Two of the things we came up with in a plan with her physical therapist (who, by the way, was made of awesome) were 1. using a bouncer that you sit on and hop all over the house with and 2. taking her to places like the park to swing and the bounce houses to jump around.

This plan worked very well, and she has always been most joyous at the bounce places. It’s understandable; most kids enjoy bouncing. As much of a bookworm-hermit I was, even I looked forward to them when the carnival came to town. And though you do hear about incidents of injury and even death, when proper safety measures are followed they are usually a safe source of fun (though their environmental impact, I’ll admit, isn’t so great). They're also usually very affordable, especially for single parents or for those on a tight budget who are looking for a fun place to let their kids play out of the summer heat.

Now, however, it has been discovered that these playthings are not nearly as safe as we’d previously imagined. According to the Center for Environmental Health, bounce houses contain a whopping 70 times the amount of lead considered to be safe. I suppose it shouldn’t be surprising, considering how brightly-colored the bouncers are and how many lead toy recalls we have issued every month. The PVC in the bouncers, of course, is to blame.

Even so, we deserve to have the things our kids come in contact with to be safe. I’m not talking about child-proofing nature or putting bubble wrap on playgrounds, but keeping lead out of stuff that comes in contact with humans is certainly not too much to ask.

Like Mary Brune of Making Our Milk Safe (MOMS) says, “We parents can’t police all of the places our children visit looking for invisible health hazards.” Indeed, our government spends plenty of time policing dozens of other countries while it neglects the very dangers that exist within its own borders such as this. At least the bouncers who were found to have high lead are being sued for the problem. Hopefully they will have to close up shop and not reopen until they can use safer sources.

Are there any safe, lead-free bouncers out there? Does anyone know if there’s a specific brand or manufacturer who does not produce bounce houses with lead? I’d sure love to know this, and I know many other parents would as well.