Toxic toys fight takes next step

2/27/08
Continuing his fight against unsafe toys, state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal recently joined with a coalition of environmentalists and health advocates to demand stricter regulations. It’s an important fight, and one that demands continued attention.
Fewer issues are more worrisome to parents than the idea that the toys their children are playing with could be doing them harm. But with concern growing over popular toys found with unhealthy levels of lead over the past year, this is an issue that requires intervention. Blumenthal and the coalition want the state to enact some of the toughest standards in the country, and it is a move worth making.
Connecticut could join California in lowering the acceptable levels of lead allowed in children’s products with a proposal that would set a limit of 40 parts per million — significantly lower than the federal standard for lead in paint of 600 parts per million. The bill would also restrict the use of certain plastics compounds suspected of posing health risks, and require the state to identify a list of dangerous chemicals and bar the sale of children’s products containing those chemicals when safer alternatives exist.
Most of these requirements should be noncontroversial. Protecting children and parents is an issue everyone can get behind. Demanding safety for our most vulnerable citizens is the least we can ask.