This X-ray analyzer tests toys for lead and other toxic compounds at a testing station in San Francisco. PAUL SAKUMA/ASSOCIATED PRESS View More Images from this story Visit the Photo Place

Top toy priority:To get the lead out

Congress is getting the lead out of toys

Date published: 8/21/2008

BY CATHY JETT

Parents can breathe a little easier about toy safety as this holiday shopping season approaches.

Toy companies and retailers have stepped up inspections of imports after last year's rash of recalls for toys coated in lead paint and children's jewelry containing high levels of the potentially toxic metal.

"Toy companies have taken toy testing very seriously," said Gareb Shamus of Toy Wishes magazine. "Not only do these companies make toys, but they have children as well. They don't want to put children in harm's way."

Toy companies are either doing the testing themselves or hiring third-party testing companies, he said. Toys "R" Us, for example, is requiring extensive testing by manufacturers before it ships toys to its stores, and has hired Bureau Veritas to retest products on store shelves.

"We have alerted our manufacturers that we will report any safety violations we may find to the proper authorities," Chairman and CEO Gerald L. Storch said in a prepared statement on toysrus.com. "We also recently notified our suppliers that, rather than an annual test of a product, we now require that every shipment of toys sent to our stores must be tested."

LEGISLATIVE PROTECTION

Consumers will find even more protection measures in place beginning next year when the new Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act goes into effect. It bans lead beyond minute levels in products for children ages 12 and under as well as children's goods containing six types of phthalates.

"This is the first time we've actually regulated a product for lead," said or Nancy Van Voorhis, director of the state's Lead-Safe Virginia program. "It's going to be mandatory testing and certification for children's products, and they're going to require to put a lot number on the toy itself so it's easier to track if there's a problem."

Lead was the major factor in the recall of 4.5 million toys last year as well as inexpensive children's jewelry such as the "Best Friends Forever" necklaces sold at Claire's Stores Inc., according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Most came from China, where it's not uncommon for manufacturers to use lead from old computers and batteries sent there for recycling by such developed countries as the United States.

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Date published: 8/21/2008