New Tests: 35% of Toys Contain Some Lead

Many offenders still on shelves, environmental health groups say

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 5, 2007 2:00 PM CST

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New Tests: 35% of Toys Contain Some Lead — A vendor stands beside toys in a department store in Beijing Tuesday Aug. 28, 2007. China launched a nationwide campaign Tuesday to weed out unqualified toy makers in the wake of a massive worldwide recall of Chinese-made toys. The plan comes two weeks after Mattel Inc., the world's largest toy maker,... (Associated Press)

Toy shelves are still lined with lead, according to test results released today from environmental health groups in nine states. Checking 1,268 toys, the groups found lead in 35%, with levels often surpassing federal recall standards. Only 23 of those toys have been recalled. “This is not about alarming parents,” one official said. “We’re just trying to give people information.”

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission will review the groups’ findings, a spokesman said, promising “More recalls are on the way.” One toy industry executive stressed that the presence of lead matters less if a child can’t get to it. “We can make products without lead,” countered the group director, citing the many clean toys the group found. (More toy recalls stories.)

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