Toxic children's toys signal time for reform

As though we needed it, here's further evidence that the status quo of chemical regulation is not sufficient:

In what is only the nation's second largest toy recall this year, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a recall of more than one million lead-painted toys. The Mattel products were manufactured in a Chinese factory, and although two-thirds of the toys were pulled directly from retail shelves, 300,000 have already made their way into consumer homes. Lead paint on children's toys. It's just ludicrous, especially when you consider that Americans have spent nearly 30 years trying to keep lead paint as far from their children as possible.

The CPSC and the Toy Industry Association have been working together to create more stringent regulations, and we think that's a good start. But we want to keep lead and other harmful and under-researched chemicals out of our children's systems, and what we need to make that happen is massive reform of US toxics regulation. It's time -- in fact, it's well past time -- for an overhaul.

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