Random Test Finds Dangerous Levels of Lead in Imported Toys at 2.8% of Those Screened!
November 20th, 2009
According to an AP article cited on Yahoo.com (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091117/ap_on_bi_ge/us_toxic_toys), dangerous levels of lead were found in seven randomly separate toys sold at Walgreens, Target, and Wal-Mart by The Center for Environmental Health out of 250 tested. That is 2.8% of those tested.
The toys included Mattel , and one each labeled with Barbie and Disney. You can see the article for specifics. None of the toys cited as having high lead are made in the USA. All of the toys mentioned are foreign produced, mostly from China.
A total of 83 million toys were recalled in 2007 (all foreign, 80% from China), at which point toy importers and large retail chains promised to do take ownership of this issue. How little things really change…
Companies like Mattel are toy importer, not really a maker since they contract out production to foreign suppliers, mostly in China, who in turn farm out production to subcontractors and so on. At the subcontractor level, quality control becomes less of an issue than cost. Yet another dangerous side effect of allowing our industrial base to be shipped abroad.
Is 2.8% of imported toys really significant? Simply put, a family with three kids that receive a total of 10 toys each would have nearly a one in three chance of getting a toy with dangerous levels of lead in it. If three such families live on your street, statistically one would have a dangerous, lead tainted toy in their household. That one toy could expose lead to all three children in that household and any child that visits!
Unfortunately, or perhaps I should say inexplicably, no one is at the border or ports opening cargo containers checking for dangerous toxins. This study only checked for lead, ignoring Mercury, etc. that could also pose a health threat. When will we put our children’s safety first?
Naturally, 2.8% becomes zero percent if USA made toys are given.
Todd Lipscomb
Founder of MadeinUSAForever.com
Friday, November 20th, 2009 at 6:36 amand is filed under Uncategorized.
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Do not forget that C&B work from China dental labs contain LEAD! Do not allow a dentist to permently cement a China crown in your mouth. Make sure you have a lab (hopefully local) make your crown.