Complain about a product or service

More Lead-Contaminated Toys in the Pipeline

Lead paint waits as holiday shopping season approaches

By Joseph S. Enoch
ConsumerAffairs.com

September 6, 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

This week's recall of 800,000 Mattel toys could result in better oversight by manufacturers, but one child safety expert warns that more lead-contaminated toys are likely to infest the U.S. market and that the safety agency charged with filtering unsafe toys cannot handle the load.

As a result of two major recalls of lead-tainted toys in August, Mattel spokespeople say the company has stepped up efforts to examine all toys manufactured past and present.

Allen Korn, director of public policy and general counsel for Safe Kids USA, a nonprofit that works to prevent child injury, said he expects other major toy manufacturers to do the same before the Christmas shopping season.

But while these major recalls of Chinese toys appear to have yielded some positives, Korn said many smaller foreign toy manufacturers may not care about hurting their brand image and it's possible they will continue to use the cheaper lead-based products in their toys.

He also warned that the agency charged with filtering dangerous toys is incapable of doing so.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) “is withering on the vine and needs a shot of water and fertilizer,” Korn said.

Among many of the agency's publicized woes, is a shrinking, demoralized staff. Nowhere is this more evident than at the ports where hundreds of millions of truckloads of products that the agency inspects are imported into the U.S.

No-Shows

Although the CPSC would not confirm it, reliable reports indicate the agency only has 15 inspectors for the entire nation. According to The New York Times, at least one of them almost never shows up to work.

“When an agency has jurisdiction over so many products, there needs to be a vigorous inspection network and clearly there isn't,” Korn said.

Korn said the agency is particularly weak because it has a very limited ability to fine companies that withhold information about a recalled product. Mattel has been accused of doing this at least twice.

According to the agency's governing statute, the Consumer Product Safety Act, a company has 24 hours to inform the CPSC if it believes one of its products could be dangerous. If it does not do so in that time frame, the most the agency can fine any company is $1.8 million, which often is far less financial damage than what most recalls would cost in consumer reimbursements, lost inventory and negative press.

“Often, that small fine is negotiated down, too,” Korn said. “It's an economic disincentive to do the right thing.”

The agency's remaining two commissioners have submitted reauthorization proposals to Congress. If Congress adopts the proposals, the agency would have greater authority to impose fines..

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

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Share		Follow us on Twitter.