Education supply firm halts sales
Independent testing revealed unsafe levels of lead in two products sold by a division of Excelligence Learning Corp.: "Shaving Paint Brushes -- Set of 6," imported from Artmate Co./Jiangsu Animal By-Products of China, and "Rolling Storage Rack," imported from Formosa Bridgeport of Taiwan.
The company has stopped selling the items and is working with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission on a recall announcement, said Excelligence Learning Corp. CEO Ron Elliott.
The company stopped sales of a third product, "Giant Measuring Chart" from Shiah Ching of Taiwan, when preliminary tests showed excessive lead levels as well.
Excelligence, which sells early childhood learning products through its Discount School Supply division, issued a voluntary recall in March of 2,500 two-sided easels containing paint with high lead content.
Elliott declined to reveal the number of products involved in the latest incident or how many products had made their way into the hands of consumers.
Excelligence specializes in educational products and programs for children from infancy to age 12. Its Discount School Supply division, founded by Elliott in 1985, sells everything from butterfly pavilions to peg boards to paint books for classroom and consumer use. The company buys products from a wide range of manufacturers and vendors.
It is one of 19 companies being called upon in Congressional oversight hearings on lead-tainted children's products from China. Those hearings started Wednesday in Washington, D.C.
The Committee on Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection notified the companies -- which include Mattel Inc., Oriental Trading Company Inc. and Target -- to provide information about their products and import practices. Each of the companies had imported toys or children's jewelry with paint or metallic content exceeding lead safety standards.
In total, the 19 importers were responsible for more than 9 million recalled children's items in 2007, according to the Congressional report, and in all but one instance the products were imported from China.
In response to the inquiry, Elliott detailed the company's safety standards and its efforts to inform consumers.
According to the document, Excelligence supplies vendors with an import guide requesting that products be tested to U.S. safety standards. In 2005, the company began independent testing of surface coatings of new items imported for sale in the U.S.
Lead paint on the recalled easels was detected in October 2006, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission was contacted Jan. 30, 2007, according to Elliott's statement. The company, which sells directly to consumers through a mail-order catalog and Web site, sent letters to customers who had purchased the easels. As of July 31, the company had issued 813 replacements, gift certificates or refunds.
Health and consumer advocates pressed Congress on Thursday to accept nothing less than a total ban on lead in toys to ensure child safety.
"There is no reason for lead to be in any product," Dr. Dana Best, with the American Academy of Pediatrics, told lawmakers.
Southern California toy giant Mattel Inc. and other companies have recalled millions of plastic Batman figures, Barbie dolls and other children's playthings since August.
Lead in paint is legally limited in the U.S. to 600 parts per million, or 0.06 percent. Some of the toys recalled had nearly 200 times that amount, safety experts said.
If ingested, lead paint can cause brain damage and learning disabilities.
"There is no acceptable level of lead exposure," Best testified before the House Energy and Commerce consumer protection subcommittee, which has been holding hearings into how the tainted toys missed detection and how to prevent future problems.
Activists urged Congress to implement a comprehensive ban on lead in toys. They also pressed for caution on future trade agreements, arguing that current ones have weakened U.S. ability to enforce regulations.
About 86 percent of the $22 billion in toys sold each year in the U.S. are imported from China. That number soared after the country entered the World Trade Organization in 2001, said Lori Wallach of the watchdog group Public Citizen.
Others advocated increased funding and authority for the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Chairman John Dingell, D-Mich., said he plans to introduce legislation addressing the tainted-toy scare and overhauling the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Other proposals include legislation by Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and New Jersey Rep. Mike Ferguson that would establish an independent certification process for all foreign imports and ban uncertified imports from entering the country.
Meanwhile, the nonprofit company behind "Sesame Street" vowed to send independent auditors to factories and stores to check for lead in all the toys it licenses.
"We must be even more vigilant about who we license to produce products that bear our characters," said Gary Knell, Sesame Workshop's president and chief executive.
"And we must be very clear about the standards they must satisfy."
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