RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
It's the season for toy buying and that has retailers worried this year. The U.S. has recalled dozens of toys made in China, so retailers have stepped up their own testing before the products hit the shelves.
NPR's Anthony Brooks reports.
ANTHONY BROOKS: At stake is the public's trust in what they buy for their children. To retailers, that means a lot of money is at risk in the form of lost business or lawsuits. So many are taking steps to ensure that potentially harmful toys don't make it to their shelves. Target, JC Penney and Wal-Mart, among other big stores, are pulling products and testing them to ensure they're safe.
Toys R Us now acquires suppliers to identify where their products were made and to certify that they've been tested for safety. But Charles Margulis with the Center for Environmental Health at Oakland, California says consumers are still at risk.
Mr. CHARLES MARGULIS (Center for Environmental Health): Just before Thanksgiving we bought a hundred toys and tested them for lead and found nine of them with very high levels of lead and another 11 with levels of lead that could be a concern. That's 20 percent of the toys that we bought just before Thanksgiving.
BROOKS: Margulis says not all stores test for safety. He says there needs to be uniform federal standards that require all toy manufacturers and retailers to test their products. The House and Senate are both drafting bills that would tighten testing standards and increase fines for selling unsafe products.
The bills would also allow states to enforce federal product safety laws. That's opposed by manufacturers and retailers who fear would lead to more litigation.
Anthony Brooks, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
