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Latest Recalls Include Toy Tools from Target, More Thomas Trains

More recalls expected as regulators, manufacturers try to get the lead out

By Joseph S. Enoch
ConsumerAffairs.com

September 26, 2007

• California Warns Retailers On Lead • Mattel Settles Suits Over Dangerous Toys • Target To Pay $600,000 For Violating Lead Paint Ban • Tougher Safety Requirements For Children's Products Now In Effect • Toys 'R' Us Launches Unsafe Baby Products Awareness Program • New Safety Agency Chief Pledges Greater Openness • Obama Names New Consumer Product Safety Chair, Boosts Budget • Toymaker Fined $1.1 Million For Consumer Violations • Maryland Stores Stop Selling Toys With Lead Paint • Toymakers, Craftspeople Up In Arms Over New Safety Law • Thrift Stores Protest Ban on Lead Toys • Target Launches In-Store Recall System • Do's and Don'ts of Holiday Decorating • New Jersey Finds Recalled Toys in Four Stores • Mattel Agrees to Lower Lead Paint Levels in Toys • Consumers Cautioned About Dangerous Toys • Soon-To-Be-Banned Plastic Toys Flooding the Market • Safety Agency Warns of Safety Hazards in Cribs --- • More Consumer Safety News • Recall Notices

The Consumer Product Safety Commission today announced seven recalls involving lead-tainted toys manufactured in China and consumer advocates warned that many more toys are likely to be recalled in the near future.

In total, 601,150 toys were recalled; 24,350 were pieces of jewelry containing excessive lead and 576,800 were toys that contain lead paint. The majority of the toys were 200,000 Thomas and Friends toys and 350,000 Happy Giddy Gardening Tools and Children's Sunny Patch Chairs, sold at Target.

The Thomas and Friends toy train recall expands on a June 13, 2007 recall of 1.5 million of the toy trains, which was one of the largest recalls of the summer. The manufacturer, RC2, also also recalled about 800 Knights of the Sword toys because the manufacturer coated the figurines in lead paint.

The CPSC bundled these seven recalls together because the timing was right and because it was more likely to grab the attention of consumers, agency spokesman Scott Wolfson said.

Consumer advocates warn that this will not be the end of toy recalls and that parents need to be vigilant shoppers.

At a safety summit in Washington, D.C. earlier this month, CPSC acting chair, Nancy Nord, and a head of China's safety agency, signed a pact to ban lead paint in products destined for U.S. shores. While the pact can do nothing about toys already on store shelves or in processing plants, consumer advocates doubt the validity of any safe toy promises.

“There's no way anyone can accurately state that the toys on our shelves are safe until we can ensure safety is prioritized at all stages of the supply chain,” said Rachel Weintraub, director of product safety for the nonprofit consumer advocacy group, Consumer Federation of America.

Differing motivations

Although large companies with branded names to protect, such as Mattel and RC2, say they have increased efforts to recall any dangerous toys, many smaller companies, especially those that produce cheap trinkets, may continue to knowingly produce dangerous toys, said Alan Korn, director of public policy and general counsel for Safe Kids USA, a nonprofit that works to prevent child injury.

Weintraub suggested that the only way to ensure that all toys are safe is to require every company to undergo independent, third-party certification, similar to what Underwriter's Laboratory currently offers for many electronic manufacturers. She said the CPSC is not equipped to protect children from dangerous toys. The agency has one lab technician who tests for dangerous toys.

Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) has introduced legislation that not only would reauthorize many of the CPSC's outdated powers, but also force toy manufacturers to undergo third party certification.

What to do

Recalls today ... More Thomas & Friends Wooden Trains Target Toy Gardening Tools and Chairs Knights of the Sword Toys Toy Rakes Sold at Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores Guidecraft Children’s Puppet Theaters Children's Spinning Wheel Necklaces TOBY N.Y.C. Expands Children’s Metal Jewelry Nissan Recalling 372,250 Pathfinders and Infinity QX4s

Until then, Korn warns that parents should take some precautions:

• Sign up for the CPSC's recall alerts, which are also published on ConsumerAffairs.com's recalls section and included in our free daily and weekly newsletters.

• Check past recalls.

• If any toys in a home have been recalled due to lead, you should consider taking your children to a pediatrician to be checked since lead poisoning symptoms are often not immediately noticeable.

• If a product comes with a recall registration card, fill it out so the manufacturer can contact you directly in the case of a recall.

• For smaller, less expensive toys, consider just throwing them away. If you want to test the system, try to get a refund and hold the retailer and manufacturer responsible. If you have any problems getting a refund, file a complaint with ConsumerAffairs.com.

Today's four other recalls were 10,000 Guidecraft Puppet Theaters, 16,000 Toy Rakes sold exclusively at Jo-Ann Craft Stores, 23,500 TOBY N.Y.C. metal jewelry sets and 850 Spinning Wheel metal necklaces.

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