Over 2 Million Toys Recalled Today

Over 2 million MEGA Brand Magnetic toys were recalled by the Consumer Products Safety Commission on March 17th. Various Magnetix Jr., Magtastik and MagnaMan Magnetic toys sold between 2005 and 2007 are recalled by the federal government due to magnets. The magnetic toys are recalled because there have been reports of the magnets detaching from the toys.

I URGE parents to use caution. I have heard too many times - my child doesn't put things in their mouth - but does their little sister? their little cousin who comes over to play? or in my case - my two year old goes on all of my five year old's play dates - and he still puts things in his mouth. So please keep in mind even if your child doesn't put things in their mouth, a child who is in your house might.

Senate Passes CPSC Reform Act

As a result of the record number of toy recalls in 2007, the Senate passed the CPSC Reform Act (S.2663 at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c110:1:./temp/~c1105ZnORY:e1284:) with a vote of 79-13 on Thursday. Included in the bill are the following:

Add 500 people to the CPSC work staff (currently 400) by 2013

Hire 50 people to be at US ports of entry or to inspect overseas production facilities

Increase the CPSC budget by $450 million over the next four years

Create a public database of reported deaths, injuries and illness and require the reports to be added to the database within 15 days but the CPSC has the discretion to remove reports if they are found to be incorrect. The White House is concerned this “will result in a significant increase in wasteful litigation” and place “significant, unnecessary burdens” on the agency.

Create testing of toys by third parties

Require manufacturers to create a tracking label on the product or package

Reduce the level of lead to .03 percent in one year and further to .01 percent in three years. (Note surfaces not exposed to children under normal use are not subject to these lead limits).

Prohibit the sale of recalled products (currently the recalls are “voluntary”)

Increase civil penalties to a maximum of $20 million and criminal penalties of up to five years

Give state attorney generals the power to pursue product safety cases – this concerns the White House because they believe it could lead to a confusing safety standards

The Senate bill will still have to be reconciled with the earlier House bill before becoming law.

Albany NY Kidz Expo Results

We met many concerned parents on Saturday at the Albany Kidz Expo. Some were surprised to see the Cranium Cadoo game or the Baby Einstein Crib Toy on the list of recalled toys for 2008. Several parents realized that toy recalls are not just for the preschoolers when they saw their children's remote controlled helicopter on the current year recall list as well. We accomplished our number one mission on Saturday - to let parents know - toy recalls are still an issue.

Winners of the drawing for the free year subscription to SmartToyChoice were notified by email today.

Thank you for visiting our booth.

Albany NY Kidz Expo

We are busy preparing for the Albany Kidz Expo on Saturday, March 1st from 10-5 at the Empire State Convention Center. SmartToyChoice will have a booth on the main floor near the bounce house. Please stop by to learn how you can manage the safety of your children's toys through our personalized toy recall notification service. There will be a drawing for a free one year subscription to SmartToyChoice.com.

We look forwarded to talking with you.

Claire

Safety chief urges toymakers to get the lead out

In an article by Karey Wutkowski at http://www.reuters.com/article/Regulation08/idUSN0725654020080219, the top U.S. product safety regulator on Tuesday, February 19, 2008, urged manufacturers to remove lead from children's products before congressional action would essentially ban lead from toys. Congress is expected to vote to increase funding for the CPSC and cut the amount of allowable lead content in toys. Nancy Nord of the CPSC suggested that the time for testing lead tolerances should be over.

While excessive levels of lead dominated the news before Christmas and accounted for 42 of the 81 recalls issued by the CPSC in 2007, less than 20% of the 27 million toys recalled last year were due to lead. Magnets, burn issues, and lacerations accounted for the other 21 million toys. Again in 2008, lead accounts for less than 20% of the 300,000 toys recalled so far.

As a mother, I applaud the efforts to remove lead from my children's toys (I thought that happened a long time ago), though Congress does still need to increase funding for the CPSC to help oversee all the other manufacturing problems.

No Future Change to Made in China

Over 75% of the toys sold in the United States are made in China. As of January 25,2008, there have been seven recalls of over 200,000 toys. All of the toys have been made in China or Taiwan. Will there be a change in where the toys are made?

In a recent article in the International Herald Tribune by Donald Greenlees titled Toy Industry Tries to Regain Parents' Trust, the author summarizes the articles stating that it

"is unlikely to see any fundamental change in where toys are made.Despite the product scares of 2007 and the prospect of higher costs, toy companies say there is no realistic alternative to China.Philip Shoptaugh, who owns the Oakland, California-based Shoptaugh Games, an educational toy maker, said China's toy industry infrastructure and labor rates still give it a big edge over alternatives "I think there are probably a lot of shoppers who made an effort over Christmas to read the box and say 'it's made in China, I won't buy made in China this year,"' he said."But having said that, are you going to pay twice as much for a doll because it's not made in China? The thing is you cannot make these products in the United States and have them be competitive on the shelf."

After hearing of all the toy recalls last year and the problem products (like antifreeze in toothpaste) from China, I decided to ban all toys from China in our house. I looked at all the toys in our house and found ONE made in Germany - all the rest - China. So I started looking for alternatives - and for some toys there are definitely alternatives. But while we may be willing to pay more for toys not made in China - in some toy categories there just aren't good alternatives.

In starting SmartToyChoice.com, I read a very interesting book called A Year Without "Made in China": One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy by Sara Bongiorni (which you can purchase for $16 through the Amazon link on our website.) A story about a family's struggle in going an entire year without buying products made in China. It was amazing to me to realize what all comes from China.

While it doesn't look like there will be a change in where the majority of toys are made, in the end, I decided I couldn't completely ban China. I definitely look at labels (especially toothpaste) and when I can buy out of China, I definitely do. As a result, I feel like I am at least now making an informed decision when I buy toys.

Home Lead Test Kits

Home Lead Test Kits
The other day I saw one of those home lead test kits in the store. With the second recall of 2008 issued this week for excessive lead in children’s toys, I decided to do some research to see if these home kits were worthwhile.

“Useful . . . though limited” is what Consumer Reports said about three of the five testers.

The CPSC study of home lead tests resulted in the following caution : “Consumers should exercise caution when using these test kits to evaluate consumer products for potential lead exposures. False results can make it difficult or impossible for consumers to determine the proper course of action to take. In fact, CPSC staff has tested a number of other samples that had been identified by consumers and others based on their use of inexpensive test kits as having high lead levels. To date, none of these items has actually had high lead levels based on CPSC lab analysis. This is another indication of the poor reliability of the kits for this purpose. Testing by a qualified laboratory and trained personnel is the only way to accurately assess the potential risk posed by a consumer product that may contain lead.”

From a pediatricsblog: “Even if they were reliable, testing toys yourself isn't very practical. Most toys include many pieces or are at least painted with several different colors and you would likely have to test each to be complete. For example, with the Barbie Dream Puppy House that was recalled this year, lead paint was only found on the puppy that was included with the toy. With lead test kits typically costing about $1 a test, it will quickly get expensive to test even just your child's most played with toys. "

Doesn’t look like the home lead test kits are the answer to safety in our children’s toys.