100 toys tested in a single week by CEH; 9% found with illegal lead levels

Dora the Explorer, Sponge Bob, from Target and Disney "Princess" Toys Contain More than Twice the Legal Limit for Lead in Paint

Oakland, CA - Days before the holiday toy shopping season, or "Black Friday", the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) warned parents that lead-tainted toys are still widely found on store shelves. CEH conducted 100 toy tests between November 13-16 and found 9 percent of the toys with levels above the legal limit of 600 parts for million for lead in paint.

Lead was found in Nickelodeon's Dora the Explorer and Sponge Bob bat and ball sets-all purchased from Target-and a Disney "Princess" coin purse and "Starletz" ceramic tea sets purchased from a local store. The tea sets tested at more than 20 times the legal limit. Yesterday the CEH notified Target and other companies about the lead-tainted toys and requested a recall.

"The federal government can take weeks to recall dangerous toys, but parents need help avoiding lead now," said Michael Green, Executive Director of CEH. "We will continue our extensive testing to expose this threat to our children and help parents find safer toys."

While many recent toy recalls have been due to lead paint, CEH is warning parents that high lead levels can be found in other materials such as vinyl (PVC) that is often made with lead added as a stabilizer. The high lead levels CEH found in the Dora and Sponge Bob ball sets announced today are from PVC. CEH has previously discovered hundreds of other lead-tainted children's products made from PVC, including baby bibs, lunchboxes, rain ponchos and others.

"Mothers are fed up with the endless string of toxic toys this year," said Joan Blades, President of MomsRising.org and co-founder of Move On.org. "We won't tolerate lead in our children's lunchboxes and we won't tolerate the government's failure to be a real watchdog. Moms across America have been forced to test kids' products themselves because the Consumer Product Safety Commission is not protecting our children." "Tens of thousands of MomsRising.org members have contacted members of Congress to demand action.

CEH also warns parents that extremely high lead levels have been found in metal jewelry for children. Due to the extreme risks to young children who may chew on or swallow metal small items, CEH warns parents to avoid metal jewelry for young children altogether. Last year a four-year old Minnesota boy died after swallowing a lead-tainted charm. This year, California enacted the nation's first law banning lead in children's jewelry, a law based on CEH's landmark legal agreement with more than 100 companies that made or sold lead-tainted children's jewelry. CPSC still has no federal standard for lead in children's jewelry.

Nearly a month after CEH announced tests finding high lead levels in a Curious George doll, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) finally announced a recall of the toy earlier this month. Despite CEH findings of high lead levels in baby bibs and children's lunchboxes, CPSC never ordered a recall of the hazardous products.

"We know this will be a challenging shopping season, so we want parents to be armed with up-to-date information" said Green. "As the holidays approach, parents should know they can continue to turn to CEH for answers about safer toys for their kids."

CEH has previously identified and won legal agreements to end lead hazards in numerous children's products, including diaper creams, children's medicines, home water filters, lunchboxes, baby bibs and others that CPSC failed to find. The nonprofit has a ten-year track record of protecting children from hidden health hazards in consumer products and protecting communities from health hazards related to toxic pollution. CEH works with major industries and leaders in green business to promote healthier alternatives to toxic products and practices. For more about CEH, see http://www.cehca.org

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