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Lawmakers, Wal-Mart vow action amid recalls

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Times Staff Writer

Amid a fresh spate of toy recalls, members of Congress said Thursday that they would hold hearings about product safety and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. vowed to increase testing and oversight of the playthings it sold.

But neither of those actions will guarantee a trouble-free toy aisle any time soon, according to activists who contend that legislation is needed to mandate stricter standards.

“The government agencies and the quality control operations in the companies that are supposed to prevent these problems are not working,” said Jean Halloran, a food and product safety expert for Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports. “You need to start from the point of view that to a large degree, you’re on your own. You are the one who has to protect yourself and your family.”

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In Washington, a House subcommittee requested information from 19 companies responsible for recent recalls of more than 9 million lead-tainted children’s products imported from China.

The subcommittee on commerce, trade and consumer protection also said it would hold a hearing on the issue next month.

“I am outraged that in 2007 lead-tainted products continue to endanger the health of our children,” said Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.). “Children put everything into their mouths -- if they swallow trinkets made with high quantities of lead, it can kill them.”

Meanwhile Wal-Mart -- the nation’s largest retailer and No. 1 toy seller -- said it would ask toy manufacturers to resubmit safety test results for toys already on shelves or on their way to Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club stores.

Wal-Mart said it was increasing its third-party testing, adding an average of 200 more toy safety tests a day.

The retailer, which said it would share its test results with the toy industry and other retailers, identified a priority list of about 5,000 toys that are targeted at children younger than 3 and which are made with either paint or magnets -- two hazards identified in recent recalls, company executives said.

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The retailer also said it was in discussions with manufacturers and an industry trade group about a children’s product seal of approval, which would certify that a product passed independent safety tests. In addition to toy problems, the retailer this year recalled children’s’ bibs because the vinyl material on them could contain lead.

“We have heard from customers that they are still concerned,” said Laura Phillips, Wal-Mart’s merchandise manager for toys. “We are trying to play a role here to alleviate their concerns and reassure them about the safety of the products that they are going to be buying.”

Some consumer activists, however, were unimpressed.

“These are things they should have been doing already -- the manufacturers, the distributors and the retailers,” said Edmund Mierzwinski, who handles toy safety issues for U.S. Public Interest Research Group. “The toy manufacturers and the department stores have worried too much about price and not enough about quality. So they’re responsible for this mess.”

Halloran, of Consumers Union, said the best advice her group and others have are common-sense ways to protect children. A list of ways to prevent lead poisoning, on the ConsumerReports.org blog, includes such steps as checking toys against the government’s recall list.

The group also recommends discarding toys with chipped paint, deteriorated plastic or other worn parts. The group suggests avoiding all toy jewelry for young children, because those playthings are often imported and have in the past been associated with lead charms or paint -- a serious problem because small children often suck on the metal decorations they wear.

Consumers Union also suggests that all toddlers be tested for lead exposure by their pediatricians.

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More important, Halloran said, the government needs to take more responsibility for ensuring product safety. The group supports proposed legislation that would require third-party safety certification for children’s products and expand the authority and funding of the agency that ensures product safety.

The toy industry’s biggest trade group said its members had a good system of safety standards and compliance and that the group was working toward a “uniform safety program.”

A safety seal is another possibility, said an executive with the Toy Industry Assn., whose members make up about 80% of the $22 billion in annual domestic toy sales.

“The first step for us is enhancing the system and making sure the system works,” said Joan Lawrence, the group’s vice president of standards and regulatory affairs. “I don’t know if hearings are necessary because we have long been in conversations with individual members and we plan to continue those conversations.”

Although officials with the federal agency that oversees toy safety stress that they have recalled fewer toys this year than in 2006, a series of high-profile toy problems has heightened consumer attention, particularly with lead contamination of children’s products.

Earlier this week, four toy companies recalled more than 340,000 Chinese-made toys with popular characters such as Curious George and SpongeBob SquarePants because of potential contamination from lead.

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Those recalls followed a series of Chinese-made toy recalls from the nation’s biggest toy maker, El Segundo-based Mattel Inc., which early this month warned about possible lead paint problems on 1.5 million Fisher-Price infant and preschool toys then, two weeks later, recalled more than 400,000 die-cast vehicles for the same reason.

And in June, toy maker RC2 Corp. recalled 1.5 million Thomas & Friends wooden train toys, also imported from China, because of possible lead paint.

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abigail.goldman@latimes.com

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