Toy Police - CPSIA Archives - Page 5 of 10

Kid’s ATV Industry Wants Toy Police to Allow Sales of Kid-Sized ATVs to Kids Without Testing for Lead Content

An onerous federal law called the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) prevents the sale of products to children unless the products and their component parts each pass an expensive test for lead that proves the products and their components lead content is below the stringent federal lead standard. Many companies that used to produce children’s products or components used in children’s products have gone out of business because they cannot afford to pay for the expensive testing. An industry that has been affected is the kids all terrain vehicle (ATV) industry. The Motorcycle Industry Council Wants Congress to amend the CPSIA to allow kid-sized ATVs to be sold without undergoing the expensive lead content tests. The MIC produced a call to action video asking people to contact their Congressmen/women and Senators and ask them to exempt the sale of ATVs from the CPSIA’s lead content testing requirement. The video gives three reasons for the exemption:

Use of kids ATVs is not dangerous nor does it create a health problem for children. Experts say the amount of lead a child gets from contact with an ATV is less than a child gets from drinking a glass of water.
The CPSIA has the unintended consequence of causing parents to let their kids ride adult ATVs that are more dangerous and not size-appropriate for children because the parents cannot buy kid-size ATVs.
The CPSIA has caused a lot of people in the children’s ATV industry to lose their jobs. MIC estimates that a complete ban on youth models will cause the industry to lose $1 billion a year.

Toy Police Fine Company $200,000 for Selling Toys that Have Not Harmed Anybody

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), aka Toy Police, announced that Schylling Associates Inc., of Rowley, Mass. agreed to pay a $200,000 civil penalty. The penalty settlement . . . resolves staff allegations that the company violated the federal lead paint ban regarding toys with surface paints containing lead that exceed the allowed amount. In 1978, a federal ban was established that prohibited toys and other children’s articles from having more than 600 ppm (by weight) in paints or surface coatings. The regulatory limit was reduced to 90 ppm on August 14, 2009, as a result of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. CPSC announced the firm’s voluntary recall of the products first in August and for additional toys in November of that year. Incidents/Injuries: None.

Toy Police Recall Children’s Chain Link

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada today announced a voluntary recall of Tiny Tink and Friends Children’s Toy Jewelry Set. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. Hazard: A cylindrical metal connector on a charm can contain levels of total lead in excess of 300 ppm, which is prohibited under federal law. Incidents/Injuries: None reported. Description: This recall involves charms sold with the Tiny Tink and Friends toy jewelry sets. The charm is attached to a cord using a metal ring and cylinder and included with the sets as a separate accessory that children can attach to the toy necklace, bracelet or key chain. The toy jewelry sets containing the charm accessory were sold in a variety of styles.

Toy Police Recall Children’s Greeting Cards with Bracelets

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada today announced a voluntary recall of papyrus Brand Greeting Cards with bracelets. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. Units: About 174,000. Hazard: The surface paint coating on the bracelets sold with greeting cards contain excessive levels of lead violating the federal lead paint standard. Incidents/Injuries: None reported. Description: This recall involves Papyrus brand children’s greeting cards sold with an attached wooden bead bracelet. The front of the card says “Happy Birthday To You” and includes an attached bead in the shape of a heart with the word “smile” printed on it. The colorful bracelet includes wooden beads with one in the shape of a butterfly.

Toy Police Recall Children’s Necklaces Due to High Levels of Cadmium

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, aka Toy Police, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. Name of Product: Children’s Metal Necklaces. Hazard: The recalled necklaces contain high levels of cadmium. Cadmium is toxic if ingested by young children and can cause adverse health effects. Incidents/Injuries: None reported. Description: The recalled jewelry is shaped as a metal crown or frog pendant on a metal link chain necklace in a crown hinged box. The packaging has the words “The Princess and the Frog” on it. See a related Associated Press story and a story in the Arizona Republic.

Note: The Toy Police lacks the authority to ban products the contain cadmium. There are no studies that have found cadmium to be harmful to children. The reason the Toy Police are targeting cadmium products is because the Associated Press recently tested a lot of children’s jewelry products imported from China and found that some Chinese manufacturers are substituting cadmium inn place of lead in children’s jewelry. Because the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act prohibits minute traces of lead in children’s products and the Chinese are using cadmium in place of lead, the Toy Police are mad and apparently want to show the public it intends to prevent American children from eating not just toys that contain lead, but also toys that contain unregulated lead substitutes such as cadmium.

John Rosen, MD, director of the lead program and chief of environmental sciences at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in the Bronx, New York, sheds light on cadmium. A story in the Washington Post stated the following:

Very little is known about cadmium’s potential health effects on children, Rosen says, because it’s never been known to be a problem, “Pediatricians don’t look for it, they aren’t knowledgeable about it, and there are not any particular concerns about it.” While Rosen says, “It’s very good that
[this issue] has come up and come out, I’m very doubtful” that much harm is likely to ensue. “If cadmium does have an effect on children through this route [exposure to cadmium-containing jewelry], it would be kidney disease,” he says. But, he adds, this would constitute “virtually a new disease in American children.” . . . Rosen says that cadmium “is not more dire than lead…. It’s not known to have the effects that lead has on intellectual development.” He says he knows of no credible research to the contrary.