Mold in toys, sippy cups puts parents on edge

It's slimy and yucky — and in the news again.

Mold is back as the bane of every parent's existence.

First, it was discovered in Tommee Tippee sippy cups that toddlers use after they stop drinking from bottles and segue to regular cups. Then, photos showing that it had taken up residence in the much-touted celebrity-adored Sophie the Giraffe teether toy went viral.

Moms and dads freaked out.

Read more:

Does your child's Sophie the Giraffe toy have mold inside it?

Sophie the Giraffe: Should you be worried about mold in your child's teething toy?

The cup company issued a recall across the U.S. and Canada of certain models because of the problem in the interior valves which remained moist and were cleaned infrequently even though "the resulting risk of gastrointestinal symptoms and infections in consumers with compromised immune systems is low." And the toy manufacturer responded with internal studies that showed it's improbable or rare for saliva to "transform into mold" and said that the photos seemed to indicate that there was water inside, which would've caused the mold.

Mold is a fungus that thrives in places that are wet and warm and, if ingested in large amounts, it can cause stomach or respiratory problems and exacerbate asthma.

"Mold is everywhere," said Dr. Bridget McArdle, a Henry Ford Health System pediatrician. "It’s in the water and it finds those wet nooks and crannies and it proliferates there. … Don't panic. Mold is innately bad for us, It just depends on the quantity and the type of mold. Small amounts of mold won't hurt us. The problem becomes when people are more sensitive and have allergies to mold."

Toys are a $19.48-billion industry in the U.S., of which $3.07 billion is infant/toddler/preschool toys.That sector in particular grew 6% between 2014 and 2015, according to the NPD Group's most recent data; the industry as a whole increased by 7%.

Karthik Ramani, a professor of mechanical engineering who's been teaching toy design at Purdue University for more than 20 years, said there are ways to design toys so they don't attract moisture, citing polymers and coatings, like those used for some food packaging.

"Toy designers don’t yet get into engineering their surfaces better. They just want to make stuff at a lower cost and oftentimes, they compromise on many things —  to allow mold to grow, for instance. Mold will grow if you give it room to grow."

Dallas-based cleaning expert Debbie Sardone  advises people who have moldy sippy cups or hard-to-dry toys to chuck them, because they're too hard to clean. The accumulated water inside poses a mold risk.

"Sippy cups aren't expensive these days, so there's no reason to not be sure. It’s worth throwing them out and starting over. The key is making sure they're air-dried. Don't stack," she said. "If that toy has been in the bathtub, then I don't recommend keeping it. ... It's not worth taking a chance, because little kids suck on toys. They suck out a bit of the moldy water. I know those little giraffes are expensive, but not worth the risk. Toss it."

To avoid promoting mold growth to begin with, Sardone suggested letting bath toys dry in an over-the-tub laundry net to prevent water from pooling. Periodically, they can be washed by submerging them in half a bathtub filled with water and a half a cup of bleach.

"Let them soak for five minutes, because bleach is an amazing mold and mildew killer. Then, rinse them thoroughly," she advised.

She suggests not bringing squeeze toys and other items with small holes into the tub. For toys that cant be submerged, she directs parents to wash them down with soapy water or disinfectant wipes from time to time.

Sippy cups should go in the top rack of the dishwasher, according to Sardone, but sometimes, soak them in a sink of warm water and a quarter cup of bleach for five minutes "to kill any hidden mold you can’t see, like the pale pink mold that grows in small crevices."

But even if a baby ingests some mold, McArdle's not very concerned, because stomach acid will kill it.

Contact Zlati Meyer: 313-223-4439 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @ZlatiMeyer