Consumer Alert - Halloween Toys

Keep your kids away from these. The U.S. just recalled another 440,000 toys for dangerous lead contamination, says AFP.

And the halfwitted CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) head, Nancy Nord, wants her agency to be reduced in size.

Toys included in the recall:

Galaxy Warriors figures
plastic disguise teeth
military-style Elite Operations action figures distributed by the global Toys R Us chain
Ribbit board games.

[...]

Lead can cause damage to the brain and nervous system of children, behavior and learning problems, slowed growth, hearing problems and headaches, and is particularly dangerous if ingested.

According to the AFP article, the fake teeth contain about 100 times more lead than deemed to be safe. And of course kids put those in their mouths - and they'll ingest the lead.

The CPSC has one full-time toy tester. That might explain why we keep getting poisoned toys on the market.

Dr. Jeffrey Weidenhamer of Ashland University, Ohio, tested approximately 54 items in the weeks leading up to Halloween, and says that some of the items had dangerous levels of lead. He informed the CSPC about this in a report. However, several dangerous items were still on the shelves of stores shortly before Halloween.

Stumble It!