Everyone is scrambling to make sure they don't lose any of their lucrative business this holiday season. Toy companies blame China . China blames the importers/exporters. The CPSC blame their lack of funding. It's as if everyone is putting their finger on the sides of their noses and yelling "Not I!" A panel on CNBC including U.S. PIRG's Ed Mierzwinski debates who is to blame.

Last week the Toy Industry Association, whose members include Mattel, Hasbro, and hundreds of other toy manufacturers, asked Congress to impose mandatory safety-testing standards for all toys sold in the United States. However, instead of a broad federal inspection program (the consumer product safety commission currently has ONE full-time toy tester in its lab), it calls for the government to set standards for independent testing. They openly acknowledged that they thought consumers would feel better about buying a product if they thought that the government has some responsibility over the quality (even though the CPSC and FDA have demonstrated recently that oversight doesn''t equate safety). U.S. PIRG's Ed Mierzwinski also points out in his blog that congressional standards should not become a liability shield for the industry. An article in Salon also details how the industry have historically resisted and ignored regulations. Read Ed's blog entry here... Read the Salon article here...

Other people who are trying to save their bottom-line are the manufacturers and the retailers. On Tuesday China announced a "joint agreement" on product safety with the United States. They pledged to eliminate the use of lead paint in toys they export to the U.S. Toys "R" Us, and Walmart also announced that they will start randomly testing toys and increasing their spot checks. Meanwhile, analysts project the price of toys to rise 10% after the holidays to pay for all the emergency toy testing companies are doing right now.

Really, I'm still not sure if I buy any of this (no pun intended). Spot checks and regulations are a good start, but what we really need is a way to hold these toy companies accountable for the toys they choose to put on our store shelves.

In other news.

During the Congressional oversight hearing on the issue of toy safety on Wednesday, Mattel touted their new testing plan for lead in paint (but I would like point out again, this doesn't protect our children from excessively high noise levels, burns, or choking hazards; they have not announced a policy or testing plans for these hazards). In the understatement of the year, he also said that company "could have done a better job overseeing subcontractors in China." Read about the hearing here...

By the way, if you live in California, don't forget to email Governor Schwarzenegger because he is threatening to veto the bill that would protect your children from phthalates (a group of chemical compounds, mainly used to add flexibility to plastics, that are being linked to diseases and disabilities). If you have already, get 10 of your friends to do it this week. If you don't live in California, forward this to your friends who do! If California passes this bill, it would send an important message to the industry and set a national precedence.

In Massachusetts, the Department of Public Health called for a major state campaign yesterday to eliminate dangerous toy jewelry from store shelves. They found that some items contain lead at levels as much as 1,800 times higher than is considered safe. I'll keep you posted as this develops.

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