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Lead Fears Dampen Holiday Cheer

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By MARY SHEDDEN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 9, 2007

Special Section: Toy Recalls

Buying toys just isn't fun anymore.

Six months ago, store shelves were loaded with cheap toys and metal trinkets. Grabbing an inexpensive present was simple.

Now, as retailers enter what are supposed to be the busiest sales days of the year, shoppers warily eye Elmo, Barbie and Thomas the Tank Engine. Metal trinkets are hard to find. At customer service counters, glossy ad displays have been replaced by wanted posters featuring some of the estimated 25 million children's products deemed dangerous.

The cause: a rash of recalls of Chinese-made toys and jewelry. The main culprit: lead. The toxic metal has been found in toys and trinkets by government regulators, consumer watchdogs and The Tampa Tribune, which conducted its own investigation in June.

The American public is stunned. Politicians have responded with bills beefing up lax voluntary safety standards. Retailers desperate for holiday shoppers have pledged to increase internal testing and, in some cases, have stopped selling controversial inventory.

Despite all the improvements, toys and trinkets with unsafe levels of lead remain available, a second Tribune investigation found.

"I'm happy the toxic stuff is leaving the shelves," said Sabrena Gunn, a Riverview mother who refuses to buy Chinese-made toys and trinkets. "But I'm skeptical."

Tribune Test Finds Traces Of Lead

From June to November, 74 lead-tainted children's products were recalled — more than three times the number flagged in the first five months of the year. Millions of colorful necklaces, Thomas the Tank Engine trains and other popular toys have been pulled for lead, which has been banned in American-made paint and toys for three decades.

But the dangerous toys are still on shelves, according to a recent random test of toys bought locally by the Tribune. Dangerous levels of lead were present in pieces of children's jewelry bought at two of 10 randomly selected retailers and tested by an independent laboratory used by the Hillsborough County Health Department.

Forty products (21 toys and 19 pieces of jewelry) were tested, using the atomic absorption method the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission uses in its voluntary recall testing process. Toys selected were aimed primarily at children younger than 6 — those most susceptible to the neurological and behavioral dangers associated with lead poisoning. All came from China, the leading manufacturer of recalled toys and jewelry.

All 40 showed at least a trace of lead. But two pieces of jewelry, or 5 percent of the total, contained more than 0.06 percent lead, one of two government standards. One metal charm bracelet from a Tampa Big Lots contained 0.36 percent — more than six times the standard.

By comparison, a strand of beads like those tossed at Tampa's annual Gasparilla parade contained just 0.0051 percent lead.

Although none of the toys contained toxic levels of lead, they all included at least a detectable trace. Health advocates contend repeated exposure to any level of lead can be harmful.

"It's still out there, particularly on the jewelry side," said Jeff Weidenhamer, an Ohio chemistry professor recognized for his research into lead-tainted children's jewelry and toys. The Tribune's testing mimicked scientific methods used by Weidenhamer and his student researchers at Ashland University.

A similar Tribune investigation of inexpensive children's jewelry in June found 38 percent of randomly purchased items included excessive lead. One of those items has since been the subject of a national recall.

In the most recent lead testing, 11 percent of the jewelry failed. Weidenhamer said his research also shows a decline in products tainted with lead, as inventory of the increasingly unpopular items dwindles.

"I would guess retailers have been awakened by recall after recall and all the stories about contaminated items," he said.

Rob Claxton, senior vice president of marketing for Big Lots, declined to comment on the Tribune investigations, which found contaminated jewelry at a Tampa Big Lots in May and late October.

Claxton did acknowledge that the national chain is no longer buying the cheap costume jewelry so popular with little girls. The South Tampa store that in May featured four racks of jewelry now is nearly devoid of the trinkets.

"Yes, we have changed our position," Claxton said. "In fact, we don't carry that category anymore."

The second item — a Limited Too brand bracelet sold at a Tampa Bealls Outlet — contained 0.067 percent lead. As a result of the Tribune's findings, all of the 450-plus outlets have been alerted to remove and destroy the bracelet, said Bill Webster, director of sales promotion for the Bradenton-based discount chain.

Tween Brands, owner of Limited Too, said it will review the Tribune's findings. The company's current compliance program conducts supplemental testing beyond required reporting obligations. Its vendors also are required to conduct safety tests.

"We insist that all our products meet or exceed safety standards," a spokeswoman said in a statement.

Stealing Their Children's Toys

Gunn is mortified to think her three girls, 5 and younger, could be poisoned. The Tribune investigation in June and subsequent recalls turned Gunn and her husband, David, into thieves in their own home, raiding their children's toy chests of suspect items.

"We did it in the middle of the night or when they were napping," she said.

Gunn's new shopping boycott is no easy feat, considering 80 percent of toys sold in the United States come from China, which has less-stringent lead content standards. Her oldest daughter's Christmas wish list — for a puppy and a necklace — makes Gunn's heart sink.

"It's taking the fun out of Christmas and birthdays and Halloween even," she said.

She is far from alone. About one-third of American consumers have concerns about toys, a recent Consumer Reports survey showed. Of those, 30 percent said they were avoiding toys from China.

The fear comes, in part, from the now public understanding that less than 1 percent of toys coming in cargo ships from China undergo safety inspection. Few knew the health dangers of lead in metal, paints and plastics. The cheap bonding agent's presence in trinkets is responsible for sickening numerous young children and killing a 4-year-old Minneapolis boy who swallowed a toxic charm.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 310,000 children younger than 6 have been diagnosed with lead poisoning since 2001. Most are poisoned by paint in older homes, but nearly a third stem from other sources, such as toys, jewelry and plastic vinyl lunchboxes.

"I'm not looking out for a stranger or for a child to fall down a slide. It's these innocent-looking toys that are lurking out there," said Riverview grandmother Sharon McGrouty, who is involved in the United Steelworker's Get the Lead Out campaign. "And I'm mad."

Consumers have responded to the recalls in both pragmatic and frenzied ways. Hardware stores have seen a rush on home lead testing kits. Toy chests have been emptied of recalled toys, as well as similar toys or ones made by once-venerable brands such as Mattel and Fisher-Price. Tens of thousands have petitioned Congress for formal federal standards.

Safety commission spokeswoman Patty Davis said the media attention on lead-tainted toys diverts awareness from more serious threats such as choking and aspiration hazards in products. In fiscal 2007, just 61 of 472 recalls involved toys. That number does not include children's jewelry.

"I think the focus has been entirely on lead, and parents are focused on it unnecessarily," said Davis, who added that no injuries have been linked to any of the recent lead-based recalls.

One positive, she said, is that more than 100,000 people have signed up in recent months for the safety commission's e-mail recall alerts.

Toy Industry Is Taking A Hit

The attention has caused headaches for retailers, whose bottom line has been stung by the recalls and resulting drop in consumer confidence. The onslaught is especially frustrating at the height of the holidays, when most toys are bought.

Consider that in November:

Twenty-one children's products were recalled for lead contamination. Ten more were recalled for other safety violations.

Two major advocacy groups — California's Center for Environmental Health and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group — released investigations finding toxic levels of lead in a variety of toys and jewelry. Last week, the Center for Health, Environment and Justice released similar findings.

Oppenheim's Toy Portfolio opted not to publish its annual holiday guide for the first time in 15 years, citing concerns that recommended toys could later be found to contain lead.

Kmart issued a recall of jewelry packaged as "lead free" that an Indiana mother found contained massive levels of the metal.

California's attorney general filed a lawsuit against Mattel, Toys R Us and 18 other toy companies for allegedly making or selling products with unsafe levels of lead.

Big Lots and Michaels Crafts settled a dispute with New York state officials by agreeing to stop selling children's metal jewelry containing lead.

Jerry Storch, chief executive officer of Toys R Us, admits his industry is taking a hit. Most major toy retailers went on the offensive by adding additional testing, pulling recalled items immediately, and updating shoppers on toy safety at stores and online.

"In terms of sales, we see that with a recalled item, there's no product to sell. That's not good as a businessperson," Storch said. "But we also believe that the consumer over the long term will have more confidence in the product, so sales should increase over time."

Don Mays, senior director of product safety for the Consumers Union, said the current environment is unlike anything he has seen in nearly two decades. Retailers are investing in new testing to salvage their reputations.

"Toy retailers are particularly concerned about their image being tainted this year, and they are stepping up to the plate. ... They need to step up and even stop trusting the big-name [toy makers]. They need to police their own," Mays said.

That policing, for Toys R Us, also includes publicly supporting congressional proposals to reform the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

By contrast, the acting chairwoman of the safety commission, Nancy Nord, opposes the plans that would dramatically increase her agency's budget. She's concerned parts of the reform bills would too broadly expand the agency's role.

Those differing responses frustrate Michael Green, executive director of the Center for Environmental Health. He said retailers want to clear up problems so they can get back to business, but regulators lack the political will to support or enforce stronger safety standards.

"There's some kind of irony that the regulators seem less interested," Green said.

Trading Safety For Cost

The crisis of the past six months has been years in the making.

It has long been routine that toy makers outsource manufacturing to inexpensive overseas plants. The factories operate under their own nation's safety standards, and until now oral or written proof of lead inspection was all most wanted when it came to accountability.

One reason: American consumers love a bargain and gobble up an estimated 3 million toys a year — many of which arrive at U.S. ports and head to stores with nary an inspection. As a result, shortcuts have been taken to get inexpensive products in the marketplace.

"There are some irresponsible actors in this industry. These companies should be held accountable," said U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, a Tampa Democrat.

Almost immediately after the recalls started, Castor and fellow politicians in Washington started suggesting major changes to the safety commission, an independent federal agency responsible for monitoring 15,000 nonfood products sold in the United States.

Its voluntary recall rules concerning toys and metal jewelry, in particular, are confusing and vague. For example, high levels of lead in painted toys are banned. But no standards exist concerning lead content in metal jewelry.

In general, the proposals would gradually reduce the allowable amount of lead in children's jewelry and toys, said May, of the Consumers Union. The current voluntary standard of 0.06 percent would be reduced to 0.03 percent in two years and 0.01 percent in four years, he said.

The bills, which could be voted on before year's end, also beef up the safety commission staff, which is half the size it was in 1980. Although some groups claim just one person is assigned to handle toy testing, Davis said 19 lab technicians and toxicologists, 60 field agents and 15 port inspectors have toys as a primary responsibility.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a co-sponsor of toy safety legislation, said the safety commission has failed to enforce rules and depends too much on businesses policing themselves. More government inspectors and strict standards are necessary, the Minnesota Democrat said.

"I don't have any faith in the commission," said Klobuchar, who also is highly critical of Nord, a political appointee. "I want to make sure it's a set standard."

Although politicians, toy makers and American shoppers all have blamed Chinese factory operators for many of the problems, regulators cannot enforce domestic laws overseas. Safety standards can be applied only after products arrive at U.S. ports.

The firestorm of anti-Chinese rhetoric has calmed somewhat. Mattel's chief executive issued a formal apology to the government for his comments after one of that company's major recalls. Also, the safety commission held a formal toy safety summit with Chinese government officials in September.

Negotiations and apologies won't do enough to protect children from potentially lethal levels of lead, said Green, of the Center for Environmental Health.

"It's not only China. This issue really isn't about China," Green said. "It's really about us and protecting our children from lead. We should expect our government to protect our children."

No one can say whether the changes of the past six months will make children's jewelry and toys lead-free. Laws could pass. More inspectors can test more toys. Retailers can buy new products. Still, without testing, no one will know for sure.

That uncertainty keeps parents such as Gunn in the same place they were the day they learned about the danger of lead in toys and trinkets: uncertain and skeptical about what to buy.

"I'm wondering all the time," Gunn said. "What's next?"

Reporter Mary Shedden can be reached at (813) 259-7365 or mshedden@tampatrib.com.

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