Thomas the Train Recall, is Obama the Cure?

Illinois has the highest rate of lead poisoning in the country.

Great.

And on June 13,  CR2 Corp, the toymaker located in Oak Brook of all places, announced a recall on approximately 1.5 million Thomas the Train toys. According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission "the recall involves wooden vehicles, buildings and other train set components for young children listed in the chart below. The front of the packaging has the logo �Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway� on the upper left-hand corner. A manufacturing code may be located on the bottom of the product or inside the battery cover. Toys marked with codes containing �WJ� or �AZ� are not included in this recall."

However, as of June 28, nearly two weeks after the initial recall, there were toys still in stores. Nearly 100 retailers were still selling the toxic trains and had failed to post recall notices says Maurice Possley of the Chicago Tribune. In his article, Recalled Thomas toys in stores; State finds more unsafe pieces; recall may widen, he states;  "investigators turned up packages of the toys that at first glance appeared not to be included in the recall but on closer examination were found to have a second wooden toy train piece inside that is part of the recall. Company officials later told state authorities that some toys subject to recall may be packaged with toys not covered by the recall."

Stores that I frequent were among the ones the Tribune investigated and it frightens me. I regularly shop at Target, Wal-mart and Toys "R" Us for not only children's items and toys but also consumables like pharmaceuticals and baby foods.  What other products have these retailers neglected to pull from their shelves or simply left on the shelves with a posted notice (that many of us do not "notice")?

The good news in all of this recall business is that Barack Obama has been on the right track for several years. As an Illinois Senator he has been consistently lobbying for a legislation that bans children's products containing lead.  Thomas the Train may just be the catalyst Obama needs to pass this act.

I admit that I am not normally political and I normally go to the polls pretty uneducated (as I usually leave the politics to my Foreign Service brother) but this issue has really struck a nerve with me. No child should ever have to play with a toy that is laced with any toxin. I like that Obama feels the same way.

"Decades after lead paint was banned, children’s products keep getting recalled because they contain lead,” said Senator Obama. “As a parent of two young children, it's frightening to think that a toy or a lunchbox I purchase for one of my daughters could unknowingly expose her to toxic lead. Our policy should be clear: if a children’s product contains lead, it shouldn’t ever reach the shelves.”

The Lead Free Toys Act of 2007 requires the Consumer Product Safety Commission to prescribe regulations classifying any children's product containing lead as a banned substance under the Hazardous Substances Act. This would include any product marketed or used by children under age six that contains more than trace amounts of lead. The Act also requires the Commission to issue standards for reduction of lead in electronic devices.

The original Lead Free Toys Act, introduced in 2005, specified any product containing lead in excess of 600 parts per million. The new Act, also proposed by Obama, will ban any product aimed at children younger than six containing more than trace amounts of lead. This Legislation was set to be reintroduced to Senate in April.

Obama is also a cosponsor of the Home Lead Safety Tax Credit Act and introduced the Lead Poisoning Reduction Act to help protect children. You can read more about both of those on Obama's U.S. Senator Website.

If you visit one of my two sites, Discussing Autism or My Two Boys, you can purchase a replacement, lead free, Brio Train. I will be donating 10 cents on the dollar (of proceeds) to Autism Speaks.