Tag: Lead Poisioning

Children’s Toy Companies Recall Products due to Excessive Lead Levels

Recently, Far East Brokers and Consultants, Inc. of Jacksonville, FL has recalled its Leisure Way pink-butterfly-themed children’s camp chair and swings and LaRose Industries of Randolph, NJ recalled several of its Cra-Z-Jewelz Gem Creations products due to excessive levels of lead, which is a violation of the federal lead standard. Lead is a cumulative toxin that affects the body’s nervous system and bloodstream and is particularly harmful to young children.

Far East Brokers announced the recall of its children’s products due to excessive levels of lead found in the screen-printing on the fabric of the chairs and swings, which is … Read the rest

Protect Your Children from Exposure to Lead Resulting From Home Renovation, Repair, and Painting Activities

Home renovation, repair, and painting activities cause elevated blood lead levels in children no doubt about it. A 1997 analysis conducted by the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) indicated that home renovation, repair, and painting (RRP) activities were important sources of lead exposure among children with blood lead levels (BLLs) >20 g/dL in New York state. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report dated January 30, 2009 identified RRP activities as being the probable source of lead exposure in 139 (14%) of the 972 children in New York with BLLs of over 20 … Read the rest

Court Rebuffs Attempt to Dilute New Childrens Products Safety Law

Last year was a record-setter when it came to recalls and warnings about dangerous children’s toys, especially lead paint laden toys imported from China. In response to the much-publicized controversy, Congress strengthened the Consumer Product Safety Act of 1972 (CPSA) to prohibit the sale and distribution of children’s toy or child care articles containing excessive levels of toxic substances beginning on February 10th, 2009.

Almost incredibly, the agency charged with enforcing the CPSA, the General Counsel of the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (the Commission), actually tried to weaken the enforcement of the law by issuing an … Read the rest

One in Three Children’s Toys Tested Found to have Significant Levels of Toxic Chemicals Including Lead, Flame Retardants, and Arsenic

The Ecology Center, a Michigan-based nonprofit organization, and partners across the country on December 3, 2008, released the 2nd annual consumer guide to toxic chemicals in toys at www.HealthyToys.org. Researchers tested over 1,500 popular children’s toys for lead, cadmium, arsenic, PVC and other harmful chemicals in time for this year’s holiday shopping season. One in three toys tested were found to contain “medium” or “high” levels of chemicals of concern.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission last month announced that in 2008 toy recalls had dropped to 74 from 138 in 2007. Toy recalls in 2007 included toys containing lead … Read the rest

NY Consumer Protection Board Finds Toys With Unsafe Lead Levels Remain on Store Shelves

The state Consumer Protection Board’s (CPB) Safe Toys NY Campaign has found that toys with unsafe lead levels remain on store shelves across the state, Governor Eliot Spitzer announced last week. The CPB, with the help of the Departments of Health (DOH) and Agriculture and Markets, conducted sweeps of more than 2,800 stores looking for recalled products and found approximately 620 recalled toy items still on the shelves.

The CPB launched Safe Toys NY, a massive public awareness campaign, in November to assist consumers in discerning the safety of toys, to educate consumers, inform toy makers and retailers about safety … Read the rest

Childrens’ Toy Aqua Dots Recalled for Containing a Chemical That When Eaten Converts Into “Date Rape Drug”

Aqua Dots, a/k/a Aqua Beads, a Chinese-made toy, was recalled Wednesday, November 7, 2007, by the Consumer Product Safety Commission after two children in the United States and three in Australia were hospitalized after swallowing the beads.

Aqua Dots are packets of brightly colored beads that children arrange into mosaic designs. When sprinkled with water, the beads then stick together in as little as 10 minutes to form durable artworks. The toy was pulled from shelves after scientists found they contain a chemical that converts into a dangerous, potentially fatal drug when eaten. The chemical coating on the beads, when … Read the rest