More overwhelming evidence of lead in toys

        Volunteers and non-profit agencies scrambling to do the work of the Bush Administration have documented overwhelming evidence of lead poisoning in toys on retailer's shelves during the '07 Christmas shopping season.    While the Republican head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission denied that her agency needed the additional funding that had been removed from its budget over the past several years and was restored by Congress last month, her Agency continued to drop the ball in protecting our kids. 

        The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that toys available to children not contain more than 40 ppm of available lead, due to the known, serious injuries and lifetime damages lead exposure causes.  Recent tests on 1200 children's products, most still on shelves found that 35 percent contain lead levels far above the federal recall standard for lead paint, according to the Associated Press.    Only twenty percent of the products had no evidence of lead or other dangerous chemicals.  One third of the products contained lead levels above 600 ppm:  15 times the recommended level.  The Hannah Montana Pop Star Card Game case tested at 3,056 ppm.  The testing was done by the Michigan-based Ecology Center and the nantional Center for Health, Environment and Justice and related groups in eight other states.

       Thus far in 2007, Mattell has recalled more than 21 million Chinese-made toys.  The tainted products identified yesterday included Hannah Montana card game cases, Go Diego Go! backpacks and Circo brand shoes.  The toys were on shelves at locations suchs as Toys 'R' Us, Wal-Mart and other major retailers.   Interested parents can consult the Consumer Action Guide to Toxic Chemicals in Toys, at http.//www.healthytoys.org.