Toxic Toys in the News
Toxic Toys in the News
Throughout the summer of 2007 millions of toys, including such beloved favorites as Thomas the Tank Engine, Dora the Exporer, and Elmo, have been recalled because of dangerous lead paint. Lead has also been found in children's jewelry and vinyl baby bibs and lunch boxes.
----------Radio Archive-----------------
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
KUOW Radio - Weekday with Steve Scher
Toys Aren't the Only Thing That's Toxic
includes interview with Stacy Malkan, author of Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry.
link to info and audio archive
-----------Opinion Piece----------------
Protect our children from toxic toys
Guest Column -The Seattle Times - August 23, 2007
By Gregg Small, Executive Director, Washington Toxics Coalition
"Even more shocking is the fact that I can examine them all I want and
not know which toys are safe and which ones are not. I have worked on
pollution issues for more than a decade and am well versed in the
alphabet soup of toxic chemicals and their health impacts. But, I don't
know any more than my daughter or my son Jude about whether there are
chemicals in the rubber ducky that we play with in the bathtub every
night that could impair their learning or cause reproductive problems
later in life.
There is simply no information available about what toxic chemicals are
in the products that we buy for our children. And, there is no
government agency tasked to ensure they are safe."
link to full article
-----------News Reports-----------------
Vinyl plastic backpacks, ponchos may have lead.
San Francisco KPIX TV, California, 16 November 2007.
We've been hearing a lot about lead in paint. Now a new problem has
been discovered with vinyl used in children's products.
link to TV news report
A nationwide toxic toy ban likely to follow state lead
San Francisco Chronicle - October 16, 2007
By Tom Chorneau, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
"One
day after California became the first state in the nation to ban toys
containing toxic plastic softeners, supporters of the measure announced
plans Monday to help at least nine other states - and perhaps even
Congress - enact similar laws. The movement to ban phthalates began in
San Francisco last year when the city's Board of Supervisors imposed
the nation's first restrictions on consumer products that contain the
chemical compounds, which have been linked to hormone problems in
laboratory animals."
link to full article
Toy recall on top of toy recall
Seattle Post-Intelligencer - October 2, 2007
By Justin Pritchard, Associated Press
"The first recall was bad enough: A million-plus "Thomas & Friends"
toys pulled because of lead paint. The second was surreal: The maker of
the smiley-faced trains sent customers "bonus gifts" so they'd stay
loyal - and now some of those toys have been recalled, too."
link to full article
Call made for safer products - Legislators bring toys in to be tested for toxic materials
Seattle Post-Intelligencer - September 28, 2007
By CHRIS McGANN, P-I REPORTER
link to article
Recalls prompt parents to ask: Is any toy safe?
The Seattle Times - Tuesday August 8, 2007 – Front Page
By Jolayne Houtz, Seattle Times staff reporter
“Amy Eng spotted her 2-year-old, Trevon, licking a Thomas train car the
other day, and there's been a nagging worry in the back of her mind
ever since.”
link to article
Lead in Kids Jewelry from China Prompts Ban
by Wendy Kaufman, NPR – All Things Considered - August 9, 2007
Interview with Ivy Sager-Rosenthal of Washington Toxics Coalition about testing jewelry for lead and finding concerning levels!
Listen to story at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12638571
After toys are recalled, then what?
The Associated Press in The Seattle Times - Thursday, August 16, 2007
By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO
“Now that toy companies have issued recalls for millions of
Chinese-made toys that are either tainted with lead or otherwise
hazardous to children, they are scrambling to figure out what to do
with them.....Amid the lack of clarity, many parents are confused about
how to dispose of the toys. That may mean many of them will end up in
the trash and eventually in landfills, where they could possibly leach
toxins into the groundwater.”
link to article
Poisonous Lead Toys
We've known for decades that lead is toxic. So why is it still in kids' trinkets and toys? Here's how to keep your child safe
Good Housekeeping magazine -
By Virginia Sole-Smith
link to article
