The consumer advocates over at The Consumerist have compiled a list of all of the toys recalled for lead in this past year and the total is shocking!

17,181,210 toys were recalled for lead contamination.  Note that this total has nothing to do with all of the other safety related issues.

The full list is HERE.

What is meant by the concept of "acceptable loss"? Airlines, auto makers, etc. use this term to justify profit against human injury or death. The Department of Defense has a whole different definition based on military strategic or tactical objectives rather than monetary profit

Erin Burnett, on the other hand, seems to think there is some kind of formula we can apply to deadly Chinese imports, Walmart pricing, and our children and come up with an ’Acceptable Loss’.

Sucks Too Much Lead Paint?

I’m sorry Erin, but the reality here is that with that type of thinking I’m getting the impression that you’ve been sucking on Polly Pocket dolls for quite some time now.

Look, there is no formula that we can apply to this issue. There is no acceptable loss. Not one single child should be sacrificed to keep our "greatest friend" happy.

I think the only acceptable loss we should suffer from this story is Erin Burnett herself. I’m calling for a ban of CNBC (Seattle Comcast Channel 46) as well as the CNBC.com website.

I had been toying with the idea of getting a Blackberry and a Data-Only plan so that I could be connected to my e-mail all day long. I could check and respond to e-mail as I walked to and from work. A fun idea in theory. I’m just still trying to decide if I really need something like this.

Regardless, I went to the T-Mobile site to do a little investigation into the whole question. They have an unlimited data only plan that is $5 less than anyone else’s that I’ve found. I know that signal strength is important so I went to the T-Mobile coverage map and entered my zip code. And then the fun began! Below find a copy of the map and the text of my e-mail to T-Mobile Customer Care.

I’m considering purchasing a Blackberry and signing up for a data only plan.

I thought it would be a good thing if I verified the coverage in my neighborhood.

I went to your Coverage Area page (http://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/) put in my zip code (98133) and was presented with a map. On that map I saw four (4) colors of green. Above the map there is a Signal Strength guide that matches colors to signal strength bars. There are 5 colors of green and one white box in the guide, the white box indicating no signal at all. The mouse-over pop-up states 0 bars, No coverage, for the white box.

All perfectly understandable. Except for one small thing.

The colors depicted in the Signal Strength Guide and the colors depicted on the map are different hues of green. There is not one single color that has the same RGB values between the two objects. I can’t tell what the signal strength would be on my street. On the map I am the second lightest color. Could you tell me what signal strength that is supposed to represent? 2 Bars or 3 Bars?

Is this an intentional misrepresentation of your service coverage area? Are you hoping my mind will subconsciously select the better of the two choices? I’ve posted a PDF and a JPG document on my web site so that you may examine the difference. Here are the links to the documents:

http://www.daily-nonsense.com/images/T_Mobile_Coverage.jpg

http://www.daily-nonsense.com/images/T_Mobile_Coverage.pdf

Please advise exactly what level of coverage I can expect. Thank you.

The Chinese are seriously trying to kill or maim our children. It appears as if Mattel is going to announce another series of recalls and people in the know say that it will be another round of Chinese manufactured children’s toys. I wonder if the Chinese let their own children play with this crap.

Another Big Recall May Hit Mattel

Latest Incident From China Involves Cars, Magnet Toys; More Pressure on Factories

By NICHOLAS CASEY and NICHOLAS ZAMISKA
August 14, 2007 8:50 a.m.

Mattel Inc. is close to announcing its second big recall of Chinese-made toys in as many weeks, according to people familiar with the matter, expanding a mounting crisis for the toy maker that could grow even more problematic as the holiday shopping season approaches.

Mattel earlier recalled more than a million toys — including ones based on characters from Sesame Street and Nickelodeon — that may have been tainted with lead paint. Now, people briefed on the matter say, it will recall possibly hundreds of thousands of more items. One of the recalled items is a die-cast car that may contain lead paint. Other items involve toys with magnets that can be harmful to children if swallowed. The items involved in the new recall may come from different factories than the plant that made toys involved in the first recall, according to these people. The magnet-related recall is expected to involve several years worth of the affected toy, a person familiar with the matter said.

Mattel didn’t return calls seeking comment. The Consumer Product Safety Commission had no comment.

Magnet issues surfaced recently in another toy recall. In 2006, the CPSC issued a similar recall for 3.8 million "Magnetix" sets, a toy produced by Rose Art Industries Inc. of Livingston, N.J. The sets consisted of tiny magnets that, if swallowed by an infant, bonded together in the stomach and caused fatal intestinal perforation in at least one instance. The CPSC documented 34 incidents involving the magnets, including one death and four serious injuries. A 20-month-old boy died after he swallowed pieces that twisted his small intestine and created a blockage.

"The possibility [of a new recall] has been discussed within the industry since last week," said Chris Byrne, an independent toy analyst based in New York.

The emergence of a second recall is bad news for Mattel, which has so far weathered the bad news with little damage to its share price. The company announced a $30 million charge to its second-quarter earnings related to the first recall. But more bad news is likely to hurt as parents begin to think about toys for the coming holiday season.

News of the second recall, which was previously reported by the Associated Press, comes as an owner of a Chinese toy factory at the center of the recall earlier this month reportedly committed suicide just days after Mattel identified his company as the manufacturer.

While it is unclear whether Cheung Shu-hung’s suicide is linked to the recall, the incident is likely to be seen as a tragic symbol of the mounting pressure Chinese manufacturers face to improve their operations in the wake of recent high-profile product recalls. Mr. Cheung, an owner of Hong Kong-based Lee Der Industrial Co., killed himself Saturday at his factory’s warehouse in China’s southern Guangdong province, according to an official at the public security bureau in Guangzhou.

[Thanks, WSJ]

California has taken the forefront on a new danger from our Chinese ’friends’. Starting next month the new law which bans lead in children’s jewelry goes into effect. The recent spate recalls, bans and boycotts of all things Chinese has not actually stopped them from either making the products or getting them into this country. The recent discovery of fish packaged in China that got through the customs despite the FDA ban on five types of fish is shocking to the extreme.

And now the focus is on our children. Some recent discoveries of lead in children’s jewelry has caused the Consumer Product Safety Commission to impose this ban.

Lead in Kids Jewelry from China Prompts Ban

by Wendy Kaufman

All Things Considered August 9, 2007 · High levels of toxic lead are turning up in inexpensive children’s jewelry — much of it made in China.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has recalled millions of pieces of jewelry in recent years, but it now says the only way to deal with the problem is to impose a ban on such items.

Congress is considering the issue. California isn’t waiting. Next month, a new law banning lead in children’s jewelry goes into effect.

[Thanks, NPR]

There is a good write up by the State of California here.

I recently posted a link from the NY Times that indicated ALL of the toys recalled this year were manufactured in China. I guess I wasn’t the only person struck by this news. It has affected two of Michigan’s state lawmakers so much that they have introduced a law that would ban the sale of ’Toxic Toys’. The following is a story from the Saginaw News site:

Two county lawmakers target ’toxic toys’

Friday, July 27, 2007

BARRIE BARBER

THE SAGINAW NEWS

Andy Coulouris, the father, says he reacts differently these days when he sees toys belonging to his 1-year-old daughter, Alexandra.

Coulouris, the Democratic state representative from Saginaw, said the recall of so-called "toxic toys" in recent weeks shows why he and state Sen. Roger N. Kahn, a Saginaw Township Republican, have introduced bills to ban the sale of toys contaminated with toxic substances such as lead.

"That’s a very scary thing for parents," Coulouris said. "This process has rearranged the way I look at the toys that are in my daughter’s room."

Said Kahn, "They should be viewed as just that, toxic toys, toys imported into our country to damage our children. It’s a callous disregard for the safety of the products they sell."

The U.S. Consumer Protection Agency has recalled 1.5 million Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway toys imported from China, saying they pose a lead poisoning hazard, the agency said. Those with "WJ" or AZ" codes are not included in the recall.

Chinese-made products have made headlines in recent months as regulators issued recalls or warnings about toothpaste, tires, cribs, notebook computer batteries, seafood and lead-tainted jewelry. Those are among thousands of products China manufactures and exports to the United States and other countries.

[Thanks, Saginaw News]

So far this year the Consumer Product Safety Commission has recalled 24 kinds of toys. And every one of them was manufactured in China. From the recent lead paint coated Thomas the Train series to Hasbro Easy Bake Ovens the list is getting larger each year and more disturbing.

As More Toys Are Recalled, Trail Ends in China

By ERIC S. LIPTON and DAVID BARBOZA

WASHINGTON, June 18 — China manufactured every one of the 24 kinds of toys recalled for safety reasons in the United States so far this year, including the enormously popular Thomas & Friends wooden train sets, a record that is causing alarm among consumer advocates, parents and regulators.

The latest recall, announced last week, involves 1.5 million Thomas & Friends trains and rail components — about 4 percent of all those sold in the United States over the last two years by RC2 Corporation of Oak Brook, Ill. The toys were coated at a factory in China with lead paint, which can damage brain cells, especially in children.

Just in the last month, a ghoulish fake eyeball toy made in China was recalled after it was found to be filled with kerosene. Sets of toy drums and a toy bear were also recalled because of lead paint, and an infant wrist rattle was recalled because of a choking hazard.

Over all, the number of products made in China that are being recalled in the United States by the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission has doubled in the last five years, driving the total number of recalls in the country to 467 last year, an annual record.

It also means that China today is responsible for about 60 percent of all product recalls, compared with 36 percent in 2000.

[Thanks, NY Times]

It wasn’t bad enough that someone tried to poison all of our pets earlier this year, now someone is trying to poison us! At least those of us who use Colgate products and practice good dental hygiene. In numerous discount stores across the US and Canada counterfeit tubes of Colgate toothpaste are being sold that contain diethylene glycol, a chemical found in antifreeze. I think that until this is all straightened out I’ll just stick with Crest.

Phony tubes of Colgate toothpaste recalled

Friday, June 15, 2007 By ANDREW BRIDGES
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON Discount stores that scour the world for deals sometimes give shoppers something they didn’t bargain for: bogus products of uncertain origin that may even be dangerous.

A prime example: this week’s recall of toothpaste believed to be both counterfeit and toxic.

Government tests on the toothpaste, bought by federal investigators at a discount store in Maryland, revealed it contained diethylene glycol, a chemical found in antifreeze, a Food and Drug Administration spokesman said Thursday. Although the toothpaste was labeled as “Colgate,” Colgate-Palmolive Co. said the imported 5-ounce tubes were falsely packaged counterfeits.

Foes of counterfeiting said it was an example of how it’s more than CDs, DVDs, handbags and sunglasses that are getting faked these days.

Related Stories: Tainted Toothpaste Sparks Probe

[Thanks, CantonRep.com]