Jan Drew is right. STOP distribution of amalgam toys.

From: Joel M. Eichen, D.D.S. (joeleichen_at_yahoo.com)
Date: 07/08/04 

Date: Thu, 08 Jul 2004 08:12:30 -0400

Toy Jewelry Cited for Lead Content in Record Recall
By STEPHEN LABATON

Published: July 8, 2004

WASHINGTON, July 7 - The government will issue a recall of the largest
number of products ever, officials said, when it announces Thursday
that 150 million toy bracelets, rings and necklaces that have been
sold around the nation over the last 18 months will be removed by
companies or should be discarded by parents because many of them
contain dangerous amounts of lead.

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The recall by the Consumer Product Safety Commission of the jewelry,
which cost 25 cents to 75 cents and have been sold in 700,000 vending
machines, comes after two earlier recalls of a total of 2.4 million
pieces of similar jewelry over the last 10 months failed to curtail
the problem.

One of the earlier recalls was prompted by a report that a 4-year-old
Oregon boy suffered lead poisoning last year after swallowing a
pendant he bought for a quarter in a gumball machine.

The boy had 12 times the acceptable level of lead in his body, his
parents have said.

Hal Stratton, chairman of the safety commission, said tests of some
jewelry indicated lead concentration levels by weight as high as 69
percent.

By comparison, Mr. Stratton said, the government prohibits the sale of
paint that contains more than 0.06 percent lead.

Studies have consistently found that even small amounts of lead
ingested by children can cause permanent neurological damage or
behavior or learning problems. In recent decades, the incidence of
lead poisoning has been reduced by regulations removing it from such
products as paint and gasoline. But officials at the commission said
Wednesday that its prevalence in a ubiquitous product like jewelry
prompted the agency to act swiftly.

The toy jewelry is made in India. It is imported by four companies -
A.A. Global Industries of Cockeysville, Md.; Brand Imports of
Scottsdale, Ariz.; the Cardinal Distribution Company of Baltimore; and
L.M. Becker of Kimberly, Wis., - and represents about 90 percent of
toy jewelry found in vending machines. In a letter to the commission,
the companies said that they had "stopped the importation of all toy
jewelry with lead.''

"The companies are committed to reaching an agreement with C.P.S.C.
staff on a level of lead in toy jewelry that will not harm children,''
the letter said.

The companies reached a settlement last week with the commission to
stop importing jewelry with lead into the United States until they
reached a separate agreement with the agency over acceptable lead
levels in toys.

Two of the importers-L.M. Becker and Brand Imports - had agreed to the
earlier recalls.

Mr. Stratton said that the commission had found that the importers
relied on erroneous laboratory testing that concluded that the toy
jewelry was safe. He said that the companies swiftly agreed to the
recall after being presented with the agency's own laboratory testing.
He said that the industry's own laboratory test had concluded that
jewelry that was plated would not be dangerous.

"But it failed to note that it still leaches,'' he said, referring to
lead.

"There is actually a lot of success in this story,'' Mr. Stratton said
in an interview on Wednesday afternoon. "We've caught the problem
before any known significant damage, and the companies have agreed to
the heartburn of a recall and have cooperated fully.''

The importers were advised by Nancy Harvey Steorts, a chairman of the
commission in the Reagan administration. Ms. Steorts said the industry
had volunteered to recall all of the products off the market, even
though about half of them contained no significant levels of lead.

"In the interests of safety,'' she said, "we agreed to take it all
back because it was difficult for consumers to know the difference
between those items that have lead and those that don't have lead.''

Carol Pilch, a lawyer representing the companies, said they had
already removed from the market all but about two million pieces of
jewelry. Ms. Pilch said that about 14 million pieces had either been
in the machines or on their way when the companies began to remove
them and that the rest were already sold. She also said that, on
AVERAGE, consumers held the items for about two weeks.

Neither Ms. Steorts nor Ms. Pilch would discuss the laboratory test
conducted by the industry that Mr. Stratton said had yielded erroneous
conclusions about the safety of the jewelry. They would also not say
how much the recall would cost the industry. The market value of the
14 million pieces of jewelry removed from the machines and
distribution channels is $3.5 million to $10.5 million.

Ms. Pilch said there had been no complaints of injuries involving any
of the jewelry.

Mr. Stratton urged parents to search their children's toys for metal
jewelry and throw it away.

The agency is preparing to post photos of the jewelry on a Web site,
toyjewelryrecall.com. Officials also said consumers would be able to
call a special agency hot line, (800) 441-4234, for more information.

Officials said the jewelry included a variety of styles of rings,
necklaces and bracelets. The rings are usually gold or silver in
color. The necklaces typically have black cords or are gold or silver
in color; other pieces are charm bracelets and bracelets with
medallion links or fake stones.

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