Halloween and specialty stores nationwide may be selling lead and cadmium poisoning to your child

Wednesday, October 24, 2012 by: Craig Stellpflug
Tags: Halloween, cadmium, lead poisoning

(NaturalNews) Sneaky importers and foreign manufacturers really do not care if they poison your child. Federal inspectors in September diverted a load of Halloween costumes from China for testing and found 11 times the acceptable level of lead, according to Mike Milne, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Seattle. This shipment was singled out because of a past company violation. How many times does an unscrupulous company get away with poisoning a child before being caught?

Just a month ago, 6,970 Captain Cutlass Toy Pirate Pistols were confiscated with a similar problem. The offending company was Ko Lik Manufacturing Ltd. of Hong Kong, China. Of course, Dillon Importing Company is offering a voluntary recall and full refund. But is it too late? Has your child already chewed on this plastic toy? How about lead contaminated toy cars manufactured in China and sold by LM Import & Export, Inc? These little hazards were sold exclusively by Mega Wholesale for several months before being found out and recalled. Then there was the lead laced China-made Toy Story 3 Bowling Game sold at Walmart for about a month before being recalled.

Reports like these that go on for pages and pages can be found at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. (www.cpsc.gov)

China is not the only heartless manufacturing country after your money

Jeff Gearhart, campaign director for the Ecology Center, emphasizes that Chinese toys are not the only culprits. The center's investigations have shown lead-containing toys originate from numerous countries other than China, including Canada, Mexico, Thailand, and even the US. "There's nothing pristine about the U.S.'s regulatory structure or its production practices that would prevent toxic toys from being produced here," Gearhart says.

The Ecology Center published an analysis of chemical hazards in toys in 2007 on the Consumer Action Guide to Toxic Chemicals in Toys website (www.healthytoys.org), and found lead in 35 percent of 1,200 children's products tested. Other toys also contained trace amounts of arsenic and/or cadmium.

Cadmium - The new lead

Federal regulators failed to pursue recalls after they found cadmium-tainted jewelry on store shelves despite their vow to keep the toxic trinkets out of children's hands. An Associated Press investigation shows that over two years after they revealed that manufacturers were substituting cadmium for banned lead, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) continues to be unreasonably inactive. In the recent nationwide "children's jewelry sweep" the CPSC conducted testing in stores to show that six different items on shelves - including one referred to as a "baby bracelet" - were hazardous by the agency's guidelines. Yet the agency did nothing to pursue recalls or warn the public about the items. The CPSC allowed Big Business Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Meijer to take down contaminated jewelry without issuing a recall on previously purchased items.

Their piss-poor "excuse?" It wasn't that the CPSC argued that high-cadmium items were safe in the hands of kids - because they are not, but because the items did not meet the exact legal definition of "children's product." Really? A "baby bracelet" is not a child's item?

Who is responsible for your child's health?

Certainly not the CPSC that has just 19 agents to police 15 out of some 300 ports of entry in the U.S. You, the parent, are solely responsible to ensure that your child is safe from the deleterious effects of poisonous metals which can cause vomiting, coma, convulsions, learning difficulties and attention deficits.

Don't wait on a government funded agency to tell you, after-the-fact, that you have bought a neurotoxic toy. There are many systems out there that will help you identify potential toxic metals in toys and other products within seconds. Take action to protect your child's health. Is it not worth it?

Sources for this article

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml12/12285.html
http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov
http://www.omahahealthykids.org/leadfacts_toys.html
http://www.healthystuff.org/release.121311.maine.php
http://www.daily-chronicle.com

About the author:
Craig Stellpflug is a Cancer Nutrition Specialist, Lifestyle Coach and Neuro Development Consultant at Healing Pathways Medical Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ. http://www.healingpathwayscancerclinic.com/ With 17 years of clinical experience working with both brain disorders and cancer, Craig has seen first-hand the devastating effects of vaccines and pharmaceuticals on the human body and has come to the conclusion that a natural lifestyle and natural remedies are the true answers to health and vibrant living. You can find his daily health blog at www.blog.realhealthtalk.com and his articles and radio show archives at www.realhealthtalk.com