J.C. Penney recalls more than 90,000 toys for lead

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON — More than 90,000 children's products, most imported by J.C. Penney Co. Inc., were recalled Thursday for containing dangerous levels of lead, a government safety group announced.

J.C. Penney recalled Chinese-made Winnie the Pooh play sets and decorative ornaments with a horse-theme, as well as art kits made in Taiwan and Vietnam. Totaling 70,400, the toys imported and sold by J.C. Penney all had excessive levels of lead in their surface paint.

<snip>

Due to the recent increase in recalls of lead-contaminated toys, J.C. Penney asked an independent laboratory to perform additional tests on its painted toys, according to spokeswoman Darcie Brossart. This process started sometime in August, she said, and the company alerted the CPSC to a potential recall just under two weeks ago.

An additional 20,300 Chinese-made toys were recalled by three other companies, according to CPSC. Miniature Jeff Gordon NASCAR helmets by Riddell Inc., bendable dinosaur toys by Kipp Brothers, and magnetic art kits by Cracker Barrel Old County Stores were also recalled for lead-contamination.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/chronicle/5207487.html

[Deb]

1. Kids could have gotten these 2 years ago!

"The play sets were sold at J.C. Penney outlet stores and through the company's Web site and catalog between August 2005 and August 2007."

"The art kits were sold through the J.C. Penney catalog and Web site between September 2005 and August 2007."

I'm beginning to think the lead poisoning of our children is deliberate.

[havocmom]

2. All the cost-saving companies planned when they went out for everything

sure is paying some interesting dividends for them now.

x(

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. What a shit time to be a kid.

[originalpckelly]

4. There was a time when lead paint was not something recalled...

but sold openly without any worrying about it.

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. Do you remember the dates?

When did we first start to keep lead off our products? And when did we back slide again?

I'm guessing that who was in the Administration and/or Congress at the time was the determining factor in the changes.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

7. It was around the 1940's when latex paint first started being used

Lead was still more common until the 1960's though. And it wasn't until 1978 that the legal maximum lead content in most kinds of paint to 0.06% here in the US.

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. Thanks. So this latest backslide was due to free trade with China

and other Asian countries?

[Lone_Star_Dem]

9. Yes and no. Lead use is not regulated in China

If one country is to purchase goods from a country without the same regulations that they hold, there should be agreements of quality and rigorous testing on the products received to assure that the agreements are being upheld.

At some point these safeguards have not been upheld as they should have been. If they ever really were, which I don't know.

Some blame the failure on the lack of testing, others on China's lack of concern for our standards, and yet others on Americans desire for such massive amounts of cheap goods.

If I were pressed I say the blame lay with all three but not in equal amounts.

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. So, how are their children faring?

You would think that China would have an explosion of lead poisoned children if they're buying the same goods.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

11. They suffer from high lead levels in their blood

Not just from the products they buy, but also from the environment they live in.

Here's an article that covers some of this. This is snip from the very bottom of the article.

"The worry isn't big toy makers that also export their products. The worry is small factories," said Feng Guoqiang, a childhood development specialist at Peking University's Health Science Centre.

"It's a matter of money and choice. Some parents can't afford better, so they buy the cheapest on the stall."

Feng said that toys are not the biggest threat. China has phased out leaded petrol, but house paint, old pipes and buildings and belching factories are still big sources of lead.

A study of Chinese cities in 2004 found that 10.5 percent of children had lead levels in their blood of at least 100 microgram's per liter -- a level considered unhealthy by the World Health Organization.

"For us, the problem is the factories. What they make is less important," said Feng.
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSPEK924120070803?pageNumber=2&sp=true

[Lone_Star_Dem]

6. I bet bush had a lead painted tippy cup

And a lead painted teething ring.

Look how he turned out! All the more reason for loving parents to be vigilant in protecting their children from lead.

[kimmerspixelated]

12. It's gettin to where I don't want to buy anything that says made in china!