Advice needed: baby-safe finish

[Stuart]

I've seen some catalogs my brother has been looking at and there's plenty of wooden cots being sold........ (snip)<snip>

Good to hear - I thought the world had gone to hell in a handbasket (OHSE compliant) when I wasn't looking.

Oh wait. It has anyway.</snip>

[Wongo]

Harry,

You are doing the right thing mate. BUT it is good to be cautious, not over cautious. Poly is fine. I don’t know what would happen to drink liquid polyU But licking or a small bite of dry poly occasionally would not hurt a baby.

Kids are tough, a lot tougher than we think.

Wongo (a father of 2)

[Harry R]

Thanks all for the good advice, especially the Australian Standard for cots.

Wongo, I've talked to the local carba-Tec shop owner who also reckons that dried poly is safe. I've been weighing up the pros and cons of poly or that Ubeaut hard shellac. At this stage I'm leaning towards the hard shellac as I know shellac is safe. I've had a chat to a PhD in organic chemistry who reckons that dried and cured polyurethane is safe, but it is possible that a small amount of residual solvent may remain in the finish for some time. Woodworking sure does throw up some interesting issues!