Painted toys and dangerous lead

This summer, the U.S. Congress passed a new Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which increased consumer protections by setting stricter standards on content levels of toxic materials, such as lead and phthalates.

But the lower levels in the new product safety law will kick in only in 2009 — which means that manufacturers can continue selling toys with contaminants exceeding the new standards because retroactive application of the law’s provisions is not allowed.

For this toy-buying season, it is best for consumers to remain on the lookout for contaminants in the toys being sold.

This is also the message emphasized by the findings of a study conducted by the Michigan-based environmental group, Ecology Center. The group bought 1,5000 toys off the shelf at nationwide chain stores, drug stores, online retailers, and other independent toy stores in various cities in Michigan, California, and New York.

The researchers then used a portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) device to test the toys for contaminants like lead, chlorine, arsenic, mercury and other chemicals.

The team detected lead in 20% of the toys tested, of which 3.5% (54 toys) had lead levels above the existing standard. Under current federal regulations, the maximum level is 600 parts per million (ppm) and anything above this is subject to recall. However, the 3.5% is a substantial reduction from 2007, when 7% of toys showed lead levels exceeding the 600-ppm threshold.

The recommendation from physician’s groups such as the American Academy of Pediatrics is for children’s toys to contain less than 40 ppm of lead.

The country of origin did not matter in as far the presence of toxic compounds was concerned. Toys from China showed 21% contamination compared to 16% of toys from all other countries. Surprisingly, upon testing of 17 toys manufactured in the United States, 6 toys or 35% had measurable levels of lead.

Overall, 62% of the 1,500 toys contained some amount of chemicals, while 21% were free of contaminants.

Jewelry for children (such as charms and necklaces) proved to be the products with the highest contamination levels. Among toys in the jewelry category, 15% showed high levels of lead but only 3% of all other product categories did.

In February 2006, a 4-year-old boy in Minnesota died within three days after having swallowed a charm. When it was discovered and tested, the charm turned out to be 99% lead. In the current study, the toy with the highest lead levels is a heart-shaped charm made of 40% lead.

Safety Tips:

* Consider buying toys that have little or no paint on them. Lead is usually present in paints.

* Check for brands that consistently test lower than others. The study results are posted in www.healthytoys.org.

* Avoid buying jewelry.