Serious Dangers from Toys – Will It Ever End?

Many of you have already read press reports about the recall of over 4 million children’s craft kits because they contain beads coated with a chemical that turns into a dangerous drug if ingested. We have previously blogged about problems with Chinese manufactured toys and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
In light of the massive recalls of these extremely dangerous toys, one has to wonder why these toys reached the shelves of stores in the first place. Many consumer advocates are now contending that these toys would not have entered the stream of commerce if toy makers had been required to have them tested at independent labs before they were imported into the United States.
The United States Congress is now considering legislation which would require manufacturers to pay for independent tests by certified labs prior to these toys being imported into the United States. Had these tests been required, the massive number of toys containing toxic amounts of lead would not have made it into the United States.
The chemical suspected in Wednesday’s recall of the Aqua Dots product is banned for use in toys in the United States and had independent labs tested for it, it would not have made it to the shelves of the stores. Aqua Dots, which retailers expected to be a popular gift this Christmas season, consist of colored beads that can be arranged in different shapes. The coating on the beads contains glue that fuses them when they are sprinkled with water. They were sold from April 2007 until this month in the United States. Once ingested, the chemical breaks down into the drug gamma-hydroxybutyrata (GHB), which can render a person senseless and is commonly known as the “date-rape” drug. There have been reports of two children in the United States ingesting the beads, vomiting, and falling into temporary comas.
Many companies do hire labs to test products to ensure they meet safety standards. But toy industry officials have admitted that the largely voluntary system did nothing to stop the sale of millions of lead painted toys. Some toy industry officials have actually supported efforts in the United States Congress to require testing by independent labs.
Incredibly, as we have previously blogged, these recalls of dangerous toys are occurring at the same time that the head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission is opposing legislative efforts to give her commission enhanced powers to protect children from these same dangers.