Summer toy recalls scare millions

The list of recalled toys during the summer and early fall reads like a “Who’s Who” of Toyland: Polly Pocket, Batman, Big Bird, Dora The Explorer, Barbie, Barbie accessories, Tanner Play Sets, Cars movie items, and the GeoTrax locomotive line, among others. (www.usa.safekids.org for a complete list). As parents learned to their horror when the nation’s top toy companies recalled those products, millions of their kids’ favorite playthings were dangerous.

Some were contaminated with lead paint. Lead is a neurotoxin that damages the brain and central nervous system. Others contained small magnets, so kids could attach accessories to dolls, for example. Magnets damage the intestines if they are swallowed.

The recalls affected top U.S. toy companies. Mattel called back 19 million toys including dolls, cars and action figures. Fisher Price recalled nearly a million plastic preschool toys. Toys R Us recalled thousands of art sets that contained high levels of lead. All the affected toys were made in China.

The danger from lead based paint comes when flakes fall off toys or the walls of older homes painted before the U.S. banned the paint in 1978.  Infants and toddlers put everything in their mouths – as parents well know - as they begin to explore their environments. Lead, even in small amounts like paint chips, can affect health.

“There is no safe level of lead exposure for a child…Lead is more dangerous to children than adults because it can harm the developing brain, causing reduced IQ, learning disabilities and behavioral problems,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Magnets pose a different threat. They can stick parts of the intestine together causing blockages, erosion of the intestinal walls and fatal infections. Some magnets in the recalled toys are as small as 1/8th of an inch.

“They…are so powerful that if you put one on top of your hand and another underneath, they will stick together,” according to a spokesman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The CPSC reports that nearly 100 children around the world have suffered intestinal damage from the magnets. One died.

Lists of defective toys and products can be found on line at the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention and Consumer Product Safety Commission web sites. Parents can view lead poisoning symptoms on the Mayo Clinic web site at (www.mayoclinic.com/print/lead-poisoning).

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