Statement
of Janet S. Domenitz, MASSPIRG Executive Director, on the recall of 1 million
toys manufactured in China
that are tainted with lead paint:
The
unfortunate news that close to 1 million toys tainted with lead paint were
headed for our store shelves reveals three problems:
1-China
has lower safety standards than we do----lead paint is banned in the United States---and the fact that over the past
10 years China
has become the manufacturer of 80% of our toys only exacerbates that problem.
2-The
federal agency we rely on to ensure that products for sale in our country are
safe, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, is the little agency that
couldn’t. The CPSC is understaffed, under-funded, and doesn’t have sufficient
authority. Worse the Bush administration has made it a headless horseman. Their
most recent nominee for CPSC Chair is a lobbyist for manufacturers, including the
toy manufacturers. Withdrawal of his nomination has left the agency without a
chair, for over a year now after the previous chair quit to become an industry
lobbyist. Bush’s previous nominee to that one was defeated by the Senate. These
actions do not give us confidence that the public interest is of paramount
concern to the administration.
3-But
the fact that China’s
safety standards are lower shouldn’t make anyone proud of our own standards.
Toxic chemicals are present in baby and children’s products made in the US. To add
insult to the health injury we suffer from exposure to these toxics,
manufacturers are not even required to label products which contain such toxics
as phthlates ---found in many common children’s products such as teething rings
and rubber ducks.
So
as far as toxics in children’s products go; we are over-exposed,
under-regulated, and very late to waking up and getting government and industry
to do a better job protecting us. We need aggressive action at the federal
level to beef up our regulatory agencies, and we should embrace action being
taken at the local and state level---such as several bills filed in the Massachusetts
Legislature---that call for safer alternatives to toxics.
