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Magazine Finds Lead in Maxi Toy Blocks

Toy company tries to block publication of findings

By James R. Hood
ConsumerAffairs.com

October 19, 2007     Spanish
A Canadian consumer magazine, Protégez-Vous, reports that tests of Mega Bloks plastic building blocks found lead levels that exceeded the 600 parts per million (ppm) safety standard that is in effect in both Canada and the U.S.

Mega Brands, the Montreal-based manufacturer of the blocks, went to court to seek an injunction barring publication of the article, but was unsuccessful, The New York Times reported. Mega, Canada's largest toy manufacturer, denies its toys contain dangerous levels of lead.

It was a "total shock," when independent tests found lead in 32 tested toys, three of which had lead above recommended levels, including Mega Bloks Maxi System, a set of plastic building blocks, said Marie-Josee Boudreau, an engineer who conducted the lead tests included in Canada's annual toy survey, the Montreal Gazette reported.

Without a doubt, Boudreau said, any amount of lead found in children's toys is of major concern to parents. The Canadian agency Option Consommateurs tests toys each year and reports on their suitability and safety.

Mega Brands had to recall millions of Magnetix construction sets last year and again this year. One death and 27 injuries to children were reported in the U.S., caused when toddlers swallowed small parts and magnets bunched together, causing intestinal obstructions.

Types of tests

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The dispute centers around the type of tests used by the independent lab that performed the tests for Protégez-Vous and those commonly used by toy manufacturers and the government agencies that are supposed to be ensuring toys are safe.

The lab hired by the magazine used a "total lead test," in which plastic was scraped off 32 toys, dissolved in acid and then analyzed, published reports said.

When the results came back, a yellow Maxi block was the only toy that exceeded the 600 ppm standard. Blue and red blocks showed no lead, the magazine said.

Lead is sometimes used in plastics because makes yellow and red colors brighter.

The test normally used by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Health Canada and most toy manufacturers is called a "migration test," which measures how much lead comes off an item -- as opposed to how much lead it actually contains.

In the migration test, vinegar or a similar substance is left on the toy's surface for a pre-determined period of time, then analyzed to see how much lead it absorbed.

Consumers Union has been encouraging U.S. regulators to switch to total lead tests for all products used by children, saying they more accurately reflect the way that children interact with toys and other products.

Canadian safety officials said their tests, using the migration method, found no lead in the blocks.

“When we got word that there could be a problem with the product, out of safety concerns for Canadians we tested them on our own and we found no lead,” said Joey Rathwell, a spokesman for Health Canada.

“Preliminary results from Health Canada's Product Safety Laboratory indicate no quantifiable total lead content in the plastic of the Mega Blocks Maxi System product,” the department said in a formal statement.

In the Magnetix case, a California family whose four-year-old son ingested parts of Magnetix-brand building sets allege that they warned the manufacturer about the product weeks before another child died in a similar incident.

In a lawsuit filed in Shasta County Superior Court in Redding, Calif., Adam and Sara Finley, whose four-year-old son William required emergency intestinal surgery in August 2005 after swallowing Magnetix magnets, sued Livingston, N.J.-based RoseArt Inc., its parent company, Mega Bloks Inc. of Canada, and Toys R Us.

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