Consumer Group Finds High Lead Levels In More Children’s Toys

The hits keep coming for the toy industry. Last week, a wave of new toy recalls by the RC2 Corp. and Target resulted in the recall of more then 900,000 toys. And now a consumer advocacy group said it has found hazardous levels of lead in many toys made out of vinyl plastic, an Associated Press report stated on Friday, September 28th.

Mike Schade, a campaigner for the Center for Health, Environment, and Justice said that a random testing of 50 plastic toys found high lead level content in 11 of them.

“It’s absolutely astonishing to us that lead continues to be found in children’s toys despite the fact that consumer and environmental groups have been warning the government about this issue for more than 10 years”, said Schade.

Go-Go Diego Backpacks, the Superfly Monkey, pairs of Circo Lulu boots, the Wal-Mart Neon Writing Slate and Spider-Man pencil cases were among the products that contained high levels of lead. The backpack specifically contained high lead levels, as much as 4,600 parts per million. The standard for lead in paint set by the Federal Consumer Product Safety Commission is 600 parts per million.

The epidemic of toy recalls is a frightening trend that could result in serious injury or illness to your children. It is no longer safe to assume that because you are purchasing a children’s toy from such trusted manufacturers and retailers as Mattel and Target that the product will be safe.