Toy Stores Face Shoppers' Concerns on Toy Safety

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AMBI: at store…choosing dinosaur toys..

At Imagination Village toy store in Concord - Jim Eckert of New Hampton is looking for dinosaurs, stuffed animals and wooden trucks for his three young boys

AMBI: talk of wooden trucks.

Eckert says he wasn't too concerned about the news on recalled toys.

He says he's always been cautious about what he buys for his kids.

Eckert: “You don't give a little tiny thing to a kid if you know they'll potentially .. you watch them…you don't have TV on you don't go to the computer you sit there and be a parent.”

Eckert said that he still buys toys made in China, but looks them over to be sure that they are safe.

The majority of recalled toys were made in China – and most had lead paint.

Some of Imagination Village’s customers have said they were trying to avoid toys made in China.

But the store’s owner, Laura Miller, says that it would be nearly impossible to stop buying toys from that country.

That’s because 80% of toys sold in US stores are made there.

Miller: “We look hard for toys made in US and we’re very conscious of price point because you know people don't want to spend five times more for a toy just because it was made in the US when they can get it from a good company with good procedures - their own factory and get it for $30 dollars instead of $100 dollars.”

Miller adds that some companies operating in China get it right - whether the Chinese government expects them to or not.

MILLER: “There are lots of responsible companies that make their toys in china you know Schleich toys, for example. It's a German company in china and they make animal figurines and knight figurines and their toys are phthalate-free and other substances-free they are manufactured in China but in their own factory and complete quality control the whole way through.”

Still, Miller says she contacted all the manufacturers she buys from after the recalls and asked them to provide details on their quality control processes.

Small stores like hers often take the time to evaluate toys for safety -- and they tend to know their customers.

But Jean Halloran of the Consumers Union - the publisher of
Consumer Reports Magazine, warns that discount stores are less likely to be so diligent.

She feels that the federal agency responsible for toy safety is understaffed and can't possibly find all the toys that should be recalled.

HALLORAN: “In fact they do almost no testing whatsoever..One of problems here is that their staff is currently only 400 people which is half of what it was when they opened in the 1970s”

The Consumers Union conducted tests on some toys still available in stores and found several with lead and other problems.

And Halloran says that while it is illegal in the US to use lead paint on toys the law doesn't prevent toymakers from using lead in plastics or other materials used to make toys.

Julie Vallese is a spokeswoman for the the Consumer Product Safety Commission - the agency responsible for toy safety.

She says that the agency employs 19 people in test laboratories and 60 people in the field.

But they are responsible for safety of over 15,000 different types of consumer products.

Still, Vallese says that the agency is handling it.

VALLESE: “The CPSC as well as industry has conducted the most intense scrutiny of products on toy shelves so toys out on market for consumers to buy have been inspected and tested in a way much more so than any year past.”

She added that the Chinese Government agreed recently to create a safety certification program to oversee toy manufacturing.

However, she pointed out that her agency has no jurisdiction over toys until they reach the US.

VALLESE: “Well unfortunately CPSC has not been given authority by Congress to do any kind of pre-market testing of toys or any other products in the US. Congress has given us authority to find hazardous products once they reach the US and remove them from the marketplace.”

Congress is considering legislation that would better fund the Consumer Product Safety Commission. It would also require independent 3rd party testing of toys before they are sold in the US.

And some states are looking at banning lead in plastics and other materials in toys.

In the meantime, consumers can test for surface lead on their own using a kit that can be found at hardware stores for under $20 dollars.

And several websites list information on how to select safe toys – including CPSC, Consumers Union and others.

For NHPR News, I’m Dianne Finch