Government warns about inexpensive toys

updated 2:04 p.m. ET Nov. 12, 2008

WASHINGTON - Federal safety officials worry that the economic downturn will drive discount-seeking parents to buy used toys tainted by lead or with dangerous designs.

Government safety officials are particularly concerned that money-conscious parents will purchase holiday gifts from secondhand, online sellers, who may not be aware of safety issues.

“In stretching today’s dollar, we do not want you to sacrifice safety,” acting Consumer Product Safety Commission chair Nancy Nord said Wednesday.

She encouraged parents to research any products they buy secondhand for prior recalls.

At a press conference Wednesday, Nord stressed the CPSC’s increased vigilance in targeting unsafe toys.

“The real good news this season, is the fact that the agency is inspecting more, but we are finding fewer violations,” Nord said. “And we’re seeing that across the board, but certainly with respect to lead paint.”

She noted that a new port-inspections program resulted in 238 seized shipments of toys, which were denied entry for safety violations.

However this import surveillance program is conducted by just nine people.

Recalls of toys or children’s products because of lead paint or lead content are down sharply, from a record 112 in 2007 to 64 this year. There were 20 lead recalls in 2006 and only 13 in 2005.

“I don’t think at this point that anyone who makes a toy is looking to save a little bit extra on the margin by using cheap materials,” says Michael Green, executive director of the Center for Environmental Health in Oakland, Calif. “But I am not confident that they’re all going to be able to do the job and get the lead out.”

The number of lead recalls this year worries Nancy Cowles, executive director of Chicago-based Kids In Danger.

“Progress is being made, but parents still need to be concerned about brightly painted or brightly colored plastic toys,” said Cowles. “There’s still lead out there on products.”

Even though lead has been banned in paint in the United States since the 1970s, it has still turned up in millions of toys in recent years. Lead poisoning can cause irreversible learning disabilities, behavioral problems and, at very high levels, seizures, coma and death.

Nord says parents should feel reassured.

“It’s very important that parents have a sense of perspective here. There are 3 billion toys sold each year and the vast majority are safe for children,” Nord said in an interview with the Associated Press. An AP analysis of Consumer Product Safety Commission data shows most of this year’s recalls were not from the big toy makers, but from smaller companies, and most of the products were made in China. The rest came from Vietnam, India, Peru, Taiwan and Korea.

MORE FROM CONSUMER NEWS

Consumer News Section Front

Is Black Friday really worth the effort? Sprint asked to drop ‘most dependable’ claim Consumer sentiment rises before Black Friday UPS sets new rates for 2010 Holiday ‘pop-up’ stores are going upscale ConsumerMan: Clean clothes, stinky problem Red Tape: Confessions of a credit card telemarketer Fed cracks down on gift card abuses Banks need customer consent on overdraft fees NYT: Credit card issuers share pain with users Consumer News Section Front   Add Consumer News headlines to your news reader: