p /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"Darn the luck ndash; I know they say ldquo;You canrsquo;t have it all,rdquo; but I like to think I come close (I like to ithink /iit, realistically, I know itrsquo;s not true)./p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"But I missed a very important point in my previous article when I gave an overview of how the toy industry has changed. That point: the a href="http://www.uspirg.org/"US PIRG/a (the federation of state up/uublic ui/unterest ur/uesearch ug/uroups) recently bundled a href="http://www.uspirg.org/issues/toy-safety"toys phthalate-frees into the unsafe category/a./p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"But why? After all, they are a href="http://www.ourstolenfuture.org/NEWSCIENCE/oncompounds/phthalates/phthalates.htm"phthalate/a-ifree/ihellip;/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"These toys were marked unsafe as a result of research testing that showed many toys marked as such still contain the dangerous chemical./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"So whatrsquo;s a government watchdog agency to do? Educate the masses./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"The PIRG is reacting in response to the a href="http://www.gklaw.com/publication.cfm?publication_id=750"Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act/a, which is set by the a href="http://www.cpsc.gov/"Consumer Product Safety Commission/a (CPSC), because it doesnrsquo;t take effect until 2009. Granted, this Act lands high in the ranks of progress towards a safer toy industry; however, wersquo;ve still got a couple of months until it take effect./p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"So what do we do until then? According to the US PIRG, itrsquo;s lsquo;a href="http://www.uspirg.org/issues/toy-safety"buyer beware/a,rsquo; considering the a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-11-19-phthalate-federalban_N.htm"CPSC is allowing companies to continue selling toys with toxic phthalate chemicals/a until they either clear out the shelves or until February 10supth/sup, when the new Improvement Act takes effect./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"Irsquo;m going to have to side with the US PIRG on this one; it seems absolutely ludicrous to allow companies to continue selling toys that pose a threat to consumers. I mean, wherersquo;s the harm in stepping the policy up a few months (heck, even if there is a harm in doing this, it canrsquo;t be any greater than that of continuing to sell poisoned toys)!/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"Letrsquo;s see, what else does the US PIRG have for us? They give an overview of the CPSCrsquo;s most a href="http://www.cpsc.gov/LIBRARY/toymemo07.PDF"recent data/a, which states that, in 2007 alone, 232,900 individuals (80,200 of which were under 5 years of age) visited the emergency room as a result of toy-related injuries. Thatrsquo;s awful! Whatrsquo;s worse is the fact that 18 children (all under age 15) actually died from similar injuries that year./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"Considering those numbers, along with the findings reported in the PIRGrsquo;s a href="http://www.uspirg.org/home/reports/report-archives/product-safety/product-safety-reports/trouble-in-toyland-the-23rd-annual-survey-of-toy-safety"2008 Trouble in Toyland report/a, one has to wonder why on earth the CSPS would delay (perhaps indefinitely) the implementation of new product safety guidelines./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"I understand policy, I understand scheduling, yadda yadda yadda. But, in the case where throwing of the schedule a wee bit could potentially save thousands of children from the possibility of a low mental IQ, delayed development, and even death ndash; not to mention the a href="http://www.news-medical.net/?id=10515"effects the poison has on unborn babies/a (all of a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURLamp;_udi=B6WPT-45FJY0F-Pamp;_user=10amp;_rdoc=1amp;_fmt=amp;_orig=searchamp;_sort=damp;view=camp;_acct=C000050221amp;_version=1amp;_urlVersion=0amp;_userid=10amp;md5=6228254a105fb77e27077947c89ddc3e"which may result from exposure to phthalates/a), wouldnrsquo;t you think theyrsquo;d step things up a bit?/p
p /p
p /pa href="http://desmoines.injuryboard.com/miscellaneous/toy-safety-month-us-pirg-gets-it-right.aspx?googleid=253358"Originally posted/a at a href="http://www.InjuryBoard.com"InjuryBoard/a by a href="http://www.injuryboard.com/member-profiles/Megan-Roth"Megan Roth/a
