Lead Test Surprises – UNC to the Rescue?

If you are a parent of young kids, this short story by Michael Biesecker in the N+O on this past Sunday should give you a real reason for concern.  A local company offered free lead testing for a day on toys brought in by parents:

Company president Greg Lathan estimated that about 10 percent of the toys tested at the event Saturday contained lead. Most readings were below the federal limit, but the readings on some toys were so high even the trained testers appeared surprised.

The red vinyl strip circling a wooden base on a Thomas The Tank Engine toy designed for very small children had lead at 2,900 parts per million, nearly five times the federal limit of 600 parts per million.

As a parent of a fifteen month old kid, I just returned a bunch of Thomas trains that were recalled after the company identified them as having high lead levels.  From the limited description of the toy above, I don’t think it was included in the recall.

Wonder how many other unidentified toys are out there like that?  Apparently plenty, if this one company’s testing is any indication.  Not that the Bush Administration cares.  In October, they actually asked Congress to reject efforts for more testing:

Nancy A. Nord, the acting chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, has asked lawmakers in two letters not to approve the bulk of legislation that would increase the agency’s authority, double its budget and sharply increase its dwindling staff.

This is outrageous!  At my house, we’ve already gotten rid of any recalled toys and thrown away plenty of any cheap stuff from China that’s come our way.  But we can’t do everything.  Perhaps the UNC School of Public Health should start an independent project to systematically lead test toys in North Carolina.  Talk about UNC’s mission of service to the state – this would be a huge help to parents, highlight the fact that the federal government is falling down on the job, and save the health of a bunch of kids.