35 percent of toys contain lead, report says

Calls to a Mattel spokeswoman were not immediately returned Tuesday. A Wal-Mart Stores Inc. spokeswoman declined to comment because the company had not seen the report.

Toys “R” Us Inc. spokeswoman Kathleen Waugh also declined to comment because she needed to fully review the report’s findings, referring questions to the Toy Industry Association.

Joan Lawrence, the association’s vice president of standards and safety, said the group and its members support limiting accessible lead in children’s products. But she said the industry and standard-setting bodies are struggling with how to measure exposure, accessibility and what limits to set.

She said she hasn’t seen all of the Ecology Center’s findings but called them misleading because the testers did not appear to follow recognized test procedures for lead and other substances. The two most common ways are to use solutions to simulate saliva and digestion, and another to attempt to dissolve the surface coating.

The center and its testing partners performed what they describe as a “screening” of chemicals using a handheld X-ray fluorescence device that detects surface chemical elements.

“The mere presence of any substance alone is only half of the answer — you need to know if it’s accessible to the child,” Lawrence said. “We can’t tell that from what I know of the tests that have been done by this group.”

Easthope said her group’s tests aren’t meant to replace those tests, and that’s noted on the Web site. She said it’s important for people to know what’s in these products since nobody else is providing this data.

“We’re not saying that ... all of it will come out into a child,” she said. “We’re saying it’s a concern that so much of these products have these chemicals of concern in them.

“We shouldn’t have lead in kids’ products. We can make products without lead in them.”

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission spokesman Scott Wolfson said he also hasn’t seen the Ecology Center’s tests but said the federal agency would seek to verify its findings and initiate recalls if warranted.

He said the commission has been meeting with ASTM International, which spearheads voluntary safety standards for toys, to discuss crafting standards specific to lead in plastics. He said there also is movement on Capitol Hill to revise laws on lead in children’s products.

Wolfson said the commission launched 40 toy recalls in fiscal year 2006, three involving lead-paint violations. In 2007, there were 61 recalls, 19 involving lead-paint violations.

“What we would like to consumers to know is more recalls are on the way,” he said.

More information

• The Consumer Action Guide to Toxic Chemicals in Toys
• Toy Industry Association
• U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission: List of recalled toys

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