lawmummy

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Here is the link to the recall info. Or you can download the info here as a pdf: Toy Recall

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Terrific. How could they not have known this. 1.5 million pieces? I think I have a few but it’s impossible to tell - even from the pictures. I’ve gathered them up and will call the hotline on Monday.

And now for my rant: It was no surprise to learn that these toys were made in China. But of course. In our zeal for cheap products, as of late, we are very happy to ignore all kinds of safety insights - especially from China.

I can’t imagine a US company including lead paint in products marketed to children. Lead paint is a danger that you would have not expected to encounter in the US for any product for children manufactured within the last thirty days or so. So it was particularly shocking to hear that the products had been sold in the US for almost three years - and apparently the company involved, RC2, based in Illinois did no investigation into the products, knowing that they came from China which is notoriously lax with respect to its regulations - before putting them onto the market. Even more appalling, the recall, which has received woeful attention considering the volume of toys (1.5 million) is voluntary. The company has reportedly refused all requests for interviews. (Note to self: avoid toys from RC2. The company’s brands include The First Years, Lamaze and Bob the Builder).

This issue, though, is bigger than toys and has been bothering me more and more. After I heard about this latest recall, I did a little digging into both the CPSC and the FDA with respect to imports, and guess what I found? The Consumer Product Safety Commission says:

“So far in 2007, 60 percent of the recalls we have conducted are of products made in China. So far in 2007, we have done 24 recalls of toys; all of those products have been made in China.”

This follows a horrifying story that I heard a few weeks ago about the increase in contaminated foods and vitamins due to lack of inspections at the border and lack of regulation by the Chinese government. The FDA acknowledges that they do not have the resources to monitor all of the imports into the US - especially from China. Yet, from those imports that they do monitor, the FDA has rejected more than twice as many food shipments from China as from all other countries combined - even adjusted for volume, the FDA claims that China has the highest rejection rate of any country importing products into the US.

The story was a follow-up to concerns over the infamous pet food recalls of late. In the case of the pet food recalls, two companies willfully added chemicals to the gluten for the pet food due to a lack of protein - the chemicals increased the nitrogen levels in the food which, in turn, killed the animals. Some of the examples for humans cited included shoe polish added to egg yolks for color, herbal tea with lead and baby formula with no nutritional value.

I am not anti-import and I am not anti-China. I do have concerns about the lack of regulations by the Chinese government and our own failures to stem the influx of poor products from China - whether from a lack of budget at the FDA and CPSC agencies or our reticence to “rock the boat” with China as a trade partner.

The one thing that this does solidify, in my mind, is the need to be more diligent for my own family.  I need to read labels.  I need to ask questions.  Most of all, I need to remember that the best way to make sure that my food, toys and other products are safe is to buy locally when possible.  It’s a good start.

Hat tip for the recall: SEPTA kid.

June 24th, 2007 | Category: News, Politics | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL