Improve lead testing, retailers and manufacturers[SIZE=-1]Some manufacturers and retailers say they have already taken steps to improve testing and quality before they are required by law to do so. Toys "R" Us requires that all products sent to its stores as of November 2008 must contain no more than 300 ppm total lead, even though the deadline for meeting that limit is not until August 2009, spokeswoman Kathleen Waugh says. And because of concerns about lead, Dollar Tree, which has stores in 48 states, has stopped buying jewelry from its suppliers, according to company spokesman Andrew Koneschusky. After several lead recalls in 2007, Thomas the Tank Engine manufacturer RC2 created its own lab in China to test its products for lead and seven other heavy metals, including cadmium. "All of our retailers are requiring more testing and we're complying. Instead of just spot checking, we're checking every batch of wet paint before it is applied to products," says RC2's chief executive officer, Curt Stoelting. When items are recalled, many end up in warehouses awaiting proper disposal. Stoelting says his company recovered 75 percent, or 1.3 million, of Thomas the Tank Engine items subject to lead recalls in 2007. They are locked up as RC2 works with the EPA on a disposal method. But recovering such a high percentage is unusual. More typical are figures supplied by Target stores in September 2007 in response to a congressional inquiry about the fate of recalled toys, including 190,500 Kool Toyz Playsets pulled in November 2006. Almost a year after that recall, consumers had returned only 766 of the toys, which had up to 9,200 ppm of lead. "Once bad products are out there, not many come back because you almost have to be in the right place at the right time to even hear about a recall," says Cara Smith, deputy chief of staff at the Illinois attorney general's office. As a result, although stores might pull unsold items off the shelves, many other recalled products continue to be resold in thrift shops, at yard sales, and online at sites such as eBay and Craigslist. In late September 2008, more than a year after Fisher-Price's Elmo's Guitar and Keyboard were recalled because of lead content, suspect items were offered for sale on Craigslist in Atlanta. EBay had several sellers' listings for Baby Einstein Discover & Play Color Blocks, which were recalled a year earlier. Listings didn't include model numbers, so buyers couldn't verify recalls. "Highly publicized or recently announced recalls may be flagged by online auction sites before they're posted, but plenty of recalled products are still being listed," says Keri Brown Kirschman, a University of Dayton researcher who co-authored a 2007 study on the issue. Craigslist and eBay provide links to the CPSC recall list on their sites. Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster says the Web site works with government agencies and others to reduce the incidence of recalled items. Nichola Sharpe, an eBay spokeswoman, says the site works with the CPSC and encourages consumers to report recalled items they find. Jeffrey Weidenhamer, a chemistry professor at Ashland University in Ohio, routinely has had students test products and send warnings to the CPSC, usually without much response. But Weidenhamer says the tide might be turning. In late September 2008, he received a call from a CPSC staff member asking whether he had any new lead-testing results for further investigation by the agency. "I'd never gotten a phone call like that before," Weidenhamer says, "so I think it's an encouraging sign that problems with lead finally are starting to be taken more seriously." Posted: December 2008 ? Consumer Reports Magazine issue: January 2009 *[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]Subscribe now![/SIZE]
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