Re: Jan Drew is right. STOP distribution of amalgam toys.

From: jwndds (jnelsondds_at_shaw.ca)
Date: 07/08/04 

Date: Thu, 08 Jul 2004 14:13:12 GMT

I stopped reading at "Jan Drew is right"

"Joel M. Eichen, D.D.S." <joeleichen@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:nfeqe09fc874t6ue0a6f6sippjo3lgck85@4ax.com...
> 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.
>
> Advertisement
>
>
> 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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