Yank the Tank, Thomas the Toxic Train Recall
Got Lead?
Approximately 1.5 Million RC2 Corp. Thomas and Friends Wooden Railway Toys are being recalled due to lead poisoning. The Corporation, located in Oak Brook, Il., voluntarily recalled 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. 
As of June 13, retailers were instructed to pull the toys from the shelves and consumers were asked to take away the recalled toys and contact RC2 for a replacement toy.
Yesterday the Chicago Tribune reported that
“A spot check of more than 100 retailers by state investigators showed that the toys still were on sale in a handful of stores and that numerous other stores had failed to post recall notices, the Illinois attorney general’s office announced Wednesday.
Further, the 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.
As a result, the attorney general’s office said the scope of the wooden train recall could be much larger than originally thought and that its investigators likely will conduct another statewide sweep to check whether those train sets are being pulled from store shelves.”
According to Maurice Possley of the Chicago Tribune, Senators Dick Durbin and Amy Klobuchar are now digging into this issue. and bloggers like Growing your Baby recommend putting ALL of your Thomas Collection away until this issue is resolved (and MommyDocs agrees).
U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Amy Klobuchar (D) on Thursday demanded answers to lots of questions posed to both the Oak Brook-based distributor of Thomas & Friends wooden railway toys and the Consumer Product Safety Commission related to the national recall of 1.5 million of the lead-painted toys.
“Given the clarity of the statute, regulation and standards it is hard for me to understand how these products were allowed to enter into commerce,” the senators said in a letter to Curtis W. Stoelting, RC2 Corp.’s chief executive.
On a positive note, Senator Barack Obama first introduced the Lead Free Toys Act in November 2005. It requires “the Consumer Product Safety Commission to classify any children’s product containing lead as a banned substance under the Hazardous Substances Act.”
Illinois, where Obama is Senator, has the highest lead poisoning rate in the country (perhaps why the Chicago Tribune is so focused on this story) passed the first state-level preventative lead legislation last summer. This particular law bans children’s products containing lead in more that 600 parts per million.
Lead poisoning in children can cause maladies ranging from hearing and behavioral problems to kidney damage.
For more on the recall visit National Public Radio and keep updated on the Chicago Tribune. And for a video…go here.
Replacement Trains
I am currently offering several replacement offers. I know that my son can’t live without his Thomas, and many of your children may have a difficult time as well. So, purchase a new train through this site (through Amazon or KB Toys) and I will donate 10 cents on every dollar (you all spend) to Autism Speaks. This offer will be good the entire month of July.
Its easy…Just click on these links and purchase your replacement trains here. You can even order more if you are ordering for birthdays or Christmas (I tend to order more if there are sales or free shipping…or Donations…hint, hint). Everything will trace right back to this site!
Word Press, Technorati, Tank, thomas, toxic, train, lead, illinois, chicago, tribune, RC2 Corp, Thomas and friends, james, Recall, Replacement, Sen. Barack Obama, Attorney General, Amazon, KB Toys, Fundraiser, Donation, Autism Speaks, NPR, Lead Poisoning, Tags
June 29th, 2007 at 10:35 pm
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