Toxic Toys Recalled

By Jennifer Pinkowski -- School Library Journal, 9/1/2006

After an Indiana librarian was tipped off to their potential danger, toys given to thousands of children at libraries in 41 states were recalled in August for having poisonous amounts of lead. The distributor, Highsmith, recalled 340,000 toys.

The paint on the four-inch bendable animals contained four times the legal amount of lead. They were given to kids across the country in a reading program called “Paws, Claws, Scales, and Tails.”

In June, at the Ellettsville Library, nurse Sheila Evans told children’s librarian Stephanie Holman that she recognized the bendy toys from a giveaway the year before at the hospital where she worked. Those toys had elevated lead levels. A swab test on one of the library’s toys confirmed that it did as well. Holman alerted the state health department, which put out an official warning.

As of press time, the Consumer Product Safety Commission had no reports of children becoming sick from the toys. For information about refunds, call (800) 448-4887.