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More Lead-Laden Toys Recalled

Aqua Dots bead sets recalled after children slip into comas

By Joseph S. Enoch
ConsumerAffairs.com

November 7, 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 more recalls of toys containing dangerous levels of lead paint and a Canadian company recalled millions of sets of bead toys that contain the same ingredients as a powerful "date rape" drug.

The recall includes 405,700 toys, with the most prominent being 380,000 “Pull-Back Action Toy Cars” sold at Dollar General.

The coating on the Aqua Dots beads that causes the beads to stick to each other when water is added contains a chemical that can turn toxic, officials said.

Why so many recalls all at once? The CPSC said it frequently groups these recalls together, because it is easier for one or two smaller recalls to go unnoticed.

“The focus is getting these announcements out as soon as possible and group them together to grab the attention of readers,” agency spokesman Scott Wolfson said. He denied that recalls are delayed for publicity reasons.

The other toys recalled today due to lead paint hazards were:

• 7,500 Dragster and Funny Car toys sold at National Hot Rod Association events
• 3,500 Duck Family Collectable Wind-Up Toys sold at specialty toy stores and gift shops throughout the U.S.
• 7,200 “Big Red” Wagons sold at Northern Tool & Equipment catalog, website and retail stores
• 3,600 Winnie-the-Pooh Spinning Tops sold at specialty toy stores and gift shops. This recall is in addition to 66,000 similar tops recalled August 22, 2007.
• 1,300 Dizzy Ducks Music Boxes sold at specialty stores and gift shops
• 2,600 “Robot 2000” Collectable Tin Robot sold at specialty stores and gift shops

All the toys were imported from China.

Parents should immediately take the toys away and return them for a full refund.

Get used to it

Consumers should get used to all these recalls until the laws are changed, said Rachel Weintraub, director of product safety for the nonprofit consumer advocacy group, Consumer Federation of America.

“There's no way for our current system to keep dangerous toys off shelves,” she said. “Until we get better laws in place, we can continue to see massive recalls such as this.”

One bill that may help to keep dangerous products out of the hands of consumers is the Consumer Product Safety Reform Act of 2007, now working its way through Congress.

The bill aims to boost the CPSC's funds, staff and regulatory powers. In recent years the Bush administration has been blamed for financially gutting the agency which has jurisdiction over 15,000 consumer products. Weintraub and other consumer advocates have heralded the bill as “the most important consumer law in decades.”

Weintraub's group, along with other consumer advocacy nonprofits, have lobbied hard for the legislation and Democrats in Congress have fast-tracked it into committee hearings and votes.

The Senate version of the bill, which is the stronger of the two versions, has already passed the committee level and is expected to be voted on by the entire Senate before Christmas. The House version, which was discussed in a hearing yesterday, has some compromises, but would still boost the agency's funding. It might be voted on before the end of the year as well.

The Bush administration released its proposals yesterday and appeared willing to bolster the agency, but gave no specifics how and still relies much on industry to regulate itself.

"I am pleased the President finally recognizes the threat of tainted imports to consumers," said Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. "Unfortunately, there is little new information in today's announcement. In fact, the critical issue of funding is curiously absent from the proposal."

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