Poison Expert: 'Children Have to be Systematically Tested for Lead'

Aug. 15, 2007 — -- Amid all the corporate apologies and federal calls for action in the toy recalls of the last few weeks, the message to parents left two crucial questions unanswered: Just how dangerous is lead paint in toys, and what exactly should parents be doing about it?

"I would strongly recommend that parents take this recall very seriously. Why? Because there is no safe level of lead in young children," said Dr. John Rosen, a lead poisoning specialist at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore in New York City.

Federal officials have promised a crackdown."There is absolutely no excuse for lead to be found on toys entering this country — it is totally unacceptable," said Nancy Nord, the acting chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety organization.

Concern Leads to Uncertainty

Some parents seem uncertain about what to do.

"I decided that if he wasn't eating the paint or sucking on them, which he wasn't, that it wasn't a worry," said one mother, Amy Smith. "Other friends were going ballistic, taking them back …"

Sarah Gomiller, who is eight months pregnant, and also has a toddler, owned a number of the Sesame Street toys made by Fisher Price — a division of Mattel.

"It certainly made sense to have our son tested, since he had been playing with the toys, mouthing them, and there were paint chips missing off of the toys," said Gomiller. "We had Sesame Street figurines, and it was a package of about six, and so, naturally, Sesame Street is a favorite of a toddler, and he is going to put it in his mouth."

Two weeks ago, Mattel voluntarily recalled those toys due to concerns about lead paint. Furious after reading about the hidden dangers of lead poisoning, Gomiller took her son to be tested, something leading pediatricians say is exactly what people like Gomiller should be doing.

"If a child has been playing with one of these lead painted, contaminated toys for a ball park period of about a month, I would strongly suggest that their child should be tested for lead, which is a simple blood test which can tell a parent whether their child has been excessively exposed or not," said Rosen.

Silent Damage of Lead Poisoning

Both Mattel and RC2 — the maker of Thomas the Tank Engine trains — have said that the voluntary recalls are precautions, emphasizing there have been no reported cases of lead poisoning from their products to date.

But Rosen notes that without a test, lead poisoning in children is virtually undetectable but will have caused irreversible brain damage.

"In other words, children don't have any obvious signs, symptoms, complaints to a pediatrician or concerns from a parent," he explained. "So, the children have to be systematically tested for lead at specific points during their early childhood, to make sure that the blood lead is acceptable."

Rosen said that two of his patients, 3-year-old Moniza and her 2-year-old brother Mohammed, were so severely poisoned when they got to Montefiore Hospital that they were at risk of dying if not treated.

Their Pakistani immigrant parents had no idea they had lead-based paint in their Bronx, N.Y., home until their mother took them in for a routine pediatric check-up.

"These children both had severe lead poisoning. It's more likely than not that these children will have academic problems in school in terms of basic skills in school," said Rosen. "The damage has already occurred. By admitting them to the hospital and treating them with a special drug, we've saved their lives, but we have not prevented the damage from lead that may have already occurred."

It is the silent damage done to children which has the medical community so angry about this toy recall.

Toy Makers Promise Changes

"Sources of excessive lead exposure in young children are preventable, totally preventable and inexcusable," Rosen said. "These products should have never been on toy shelves for parents in this country to have the possibility of ever purchasing in their lives."

Bob Eckert, the CEO of Mattel, spent much of yesterday explaining that Mattel issued the recall because they understood the seriousness of the situation. He said the company was determined to fix the problem of dangerous parts and paint finding their way into Mattel's production lines in the Chinese factories where all the recalled toys were fabricated.

"That subcontractor didn't adhere to our standards, violated our standards, that's what's created the issue today. So, we've added new procedures and controls in place so that this cannot happen in the future," Eckert said.

"You just expect more from an American company. An American toy company. Knowing that their product is going into the hands and mouths of small children," Gomiller said.

Gomiller's son did not test positive for lead, but she and parent groups around the country are pressing toy companies involved in the recalls to provide funds to systematically test children who have come in contact with the tainted toys, something the companies have not yet agreed to do.