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Lead-tainted toys linger on shelves despite new law
At many discount toy stores in this country, products that test at dangerously high levels for lead are still on the shelves–despite a new federal law to protect children.
When 3-year-old David Blair was still in his crib, he loved to suck on vinyl blocks from the Baby Einstein company–the kind that are supposed to help kids get smarter. Parents Kim and Raymond Blair didn't think much of it until tests showed lead concentrations in his blood were double what doctors consider a tolerable range. Lead can seriously harm a child's brain development.
"We were mortified, scared and feeling that we were maybe bad parents, and we weren't taking care of our child well enough," Kim Blair says.
Tests of soil, paint and drinking water from their San Francisco Bay Area home came back negative for lead. The only item that tested positive was a Baby Einstein block. In fact, it turned out to be on the federal toy recall list because of its high lead content.