Normally, I’d much rather write humorous pieces, but when it comes to product safety, or lack there of, my hackles go up.
My hackles went up big time when I read in the Los Angeles Daily News that the Lead Toy Exchange will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday at the Ritchie Valens Aquatic Center in Pacoima; Stoner Recreation Center in West Los Angeles; Hollenbeck Recreation Center in East Los Angeles; and Green Meadows Recreation Center in South Los Angeles.
Toys containing lead may be exchanged for a $25 American Express gift card, and families can receive two gift cards per household.
The gift cards can then be used to buy a safe toy, but how do you know a new toy is safe? Have it tested, too?
It can say “made in America” on the box, but if the company is registered to do business in the U.S. they can import toys or parts and still be labeled “made in the U.S.A.”
It’s no secret that the source of toxins in products come from imports, mostly from China and other Asian countries.
It’s magnanimous of a huge company like American Express to participate in this program to protect its customers, but they -- along with, Delgadillo and parents across the country should be lobbying President-elect Barack Obama and Congress to write and enforce stiff consumer protection laws, even if they have to stop all imports until that’s accomplished.
They can also lift the business licenses of companies, such Southern California-based Mattel, which has been cited and heavily fined along with other companies, for endangering their customers’ health by importing dangerous toys, and encouraging them with tax incentives to bring manufacturing back home.
If charity begins at home, then so does consumer protection.
Manufacturing should begin at home, too.
Just testing for lead, which can be fatal after ingesting, isn’t nearly enough. Candy and other food products have been found to contain other toxins that are equally bad.
After the Lead Toy Exchange program is completed, there should be a complete accounting of which toys, manufactured by which companies were found to contain lead.
In a recent AP story parents were advised by Ed Mierzwinski, program director of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group to not buy their children metal jewelry, because of lead content, and in the same breath said not to worry about lead based paint, because the levels of lead are usually pretty low.
Is he nuts or just typical of government-related people who are missing the logic gene?
Let him suck on the jewelry or any toy containing even the tiniest amount of lead as a child would do, and see what happens after he’s ingested even a small amount. He can also buy them for his kids and/or grandchildren first if he thinks they’re safe.
A new president and a new Congress must give the FDA some teeth and some stiff laws to protect American consumers.
