Saturday, December 1, 2007

Move over "lead"....ASBESTOS in toys TOO. CBS to launch "CSI style" investigation



Aaah...just in time for the Christmas toy rush. Welcome, 'Asbestos laced' toys to throw on the pile of injustice.

Asbestos has been found in a variety of consumer products, including one of this season's biggest-selling Christmas toys, according to the nation's largest asbestos victims organizations.

The CSI Fingerprint Examination Kit, two brands of children's play clay, powdered cleanser, roof sealers, duct tapes, window glazing, spackling paste and small appliances were among the products in which asbestos was found by at least two of three labs hired by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization.

and of course it wasn't our 'government' who discovered this..it was US..citizens.

The group, which was created in 2004 by asbestos victims and their families, spent more than $165,000 to have government-certified laboratories examine hundreds of consumer products over 18 months to determine whether asbestos was present.

It is unusual for a group of volunteers, many of whom have asbestos-caused diseases, to fund research that impacts public health.

"We had to. No one else was doing it," said Linda Reinstein, the group's co-founder and executive director. "This is information that consumers and Congress must have because asbestos is lethal and we naively believe that the government is protecting us, when it's not."

I'll give you one guess as to where the product in manufactured. No silly it's not Iceland. It's our number one trading partner, China, of course.

The product that is of greatest concerns to some public health experts is the fingerprint kit, which is a huge seller

.....

The kit, made in China, is one of several items licensed by CBS after its popular "CSI" science-crime shows. This model has an extensive array of plastic tools, inks and three types of very fine powders -- white, black and glow-in-the-dark. The analysis done for the victim's organization found high levels of two types of asbestos in the white and the glow powder.

Ha. My goodness..everything is becoming 'toxic', but this time we're lucky. CBS is on the case. It appears they're launching their own 'CSI style' investigation into the matter on their own.

CBS Consumer Products responded quickly when told of the reported contamination.

"We've asked our licensee to immediately conduct an independent test in the U.S. for asbestos. If the toy is determined to be unsafe, then we will insist that the licensee remove it from the market," a statement from a CBS spokesman said.

The manufacturer and distributor -- Planet Toys in New York City -- said in an e-mail that it frequently inspects the plants in China that make the CSI toys.

"The kit has been tested and has met all safety standards requirements as set by toy safety agencies and legislation, including the Consumer Product Safety Commission," a spokeswoman said, but added, "The agencies don't require asbestos testing and therefore we have never been apprised of any unacceptable levels of asbestos.

"We respect anyone's right to test our products and should their or our future tests reveal anything unacceptable, we'll of course take swift action to remove contaminated products from the market."

Is their a politician out there who can save US? Greed seems to always win out ...depressing. Globalization is killing US all.

Same Players. Different Scandal.

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