History

• The first concerns about the dangers of melamine, often used as a resin in dinnerware, started popping up in 2007 and 2008, according to the Food and Drug Administration. There were reports of pet foods and baby formula containing melamine causing illness and even death in the animals and babies who consumed them. Some kinds of dinnerware use melamine and there are fears that it could leach out of the product and contaminate food (See References 1; Page 5)
  
  

Misconceptions

• Melamine itself is not very toxic to adults, according to HealthyChild.org (See References 2). The World Health Organization also agrees that the typical person does not encounter much melamine, and the body easily removes such tiny amounts (See References 3). Melamine becomes a danger to a persons health when it mixes with another compound called cyanuric acid. Cyanuric acid can be found in some pools as a cleaner and as an animal feed-additive (See References 2).
  
  

Considerations

• The FDA does not allow melamine in any infant product due to known toxicity of the chemical in infants, reports HealthyKids. However, one should consider the danger of melamine leaching from dinnerware and then interacting with other sources of cyanuric acid. Theoretically, melamine can leach from dinnerware and a child could then enter a swimming pool with cyanuric acid and the two compounds could combine to form a "synergistic toxicity" (See References 2).
  
  

Effects

• The effects of melamine in dinnerware are not well understood, especially the effects of synergistic toxicity. Health authorities also cannot agree on safe levels of melamine, according to The National Toxiciology Program (See Resources 1). So far, melamine has only been linked to renal failure when used as an additive in feed and milk for infants (See References 1; Page 4). The levels of melamine in dinnerware are considered safe by the FDA, but this does not account for others sources that can build up melamine in the body (See References 2).
  
  

Prevention/Solution

• Although the FDA has not issued a recall on melamine dinnerware, HealthyKids suggests that people, and especially small children, avoid melamine dinnerware due to the fact that there are known dangers of melamine in other forms, and avoiding melamine dinnerware is rather easy (See References 2). Glass and ceramic are alternatives to melamine dinnerware and found in just about any store.