The New York Times had a fascinating story last week about what was behind the recall of 500,000 pieces of children’s jewelry.
It was fascinating because the recall started not from tests by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, but from the curious mind of a 10-year-old girl named Montana Stone, who had received the jewelry as favors at several birthday parties.
Montana, hearing news reports about tainted toys, wanted to know if her jewelry was safe. She asked the right person, her dad, Ward Stone. The elder Stone, who works for New York state and helps determine why animals die, used a lead-testing process he might use on a dead deer.
He found lead exceeding safety limits in more than half of his daughter’s jewelry pieces. Then he bought 75 more pieces and found too much lead in 56 of those.
Stone took his results to the state attorney general’s office, which got the retailers to pull the items from their shelves and also helped initiate the federal recall.
I say the story is fascinating because most product recalls stem from deaths, illnesses and close calls that prompt the government to look into the product’s safety. Others might involve random tests by the government.
This is the first time I’ve heard of just regular folks stepping in, finding a problem and getting the government apparatus going to safeguard others. Hats off to the Stones, who performed a public service that was not their job.
Real people can, and do, make a difference.
This has been a weird year for toys.
We’ve gone from toys with paint that contains too much lead, to toys themselves with too much lead and even toys that contain chemicals used in date rapes. The latter item prompted a lot of jokes, but it’s hard for me to see the humor.
How does a parent keep track these days?
We’ll certainly try to help by publishing notices of safety recalls. In Sunday’s Money section, we’ll be running a story that will give you some good guidelines. Like Montana, you can also become more personally involved by signing up to receive direct e-mails about recalls from the product safety commission by going to its Web site, www.cpsc.gov. Look under the heading recalls and product safety news for information. You can also search all the recalls for a particular product name.
That’s not a bad idea because even though the commission issues product recalls, some recalled items remain on the shelf in stores that didn’t get the message.
This has also been an incredible year, with the agency issuing a record number of recalls involving millions of items.
Over and above recalls, there are certain types of toys you should always be careful about buying, or at least be careful about the age of the child you’re buying them for.
Toys with small parts or parts that can easily be broken off pose a choking hazard, especially for children under 3.
Small magnets on toys can cause injury or death if swallowed and should be avoided for children under 6.
Toys that shoot rockets, darts or other items can cause eye injuries.
And toys with chargers or adapters pose burn hazards.
This year, it will be tougher to make sure what you’re buying is safe. We’ll try to help when we can.
Mike Benbow: 425-339-3459; benbow@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
