Libraries warn of lead in toys they gave away

The Maine State Library learned recently that several libraries across the state unknowingly distributed toys to children that contained excessive levels of lead.

"I think parents at this point should take any of these bendable toys and not let their kids use them," Melora Norman of the Maine State Library said.

Public libraries in Winslow, Madison and Belgrade were among 16 libraries in the state that opted to purchase bendable cat and dog toys to hand out to children who participated in a national summer reading program.

"I have called every library that has purchased the toys in Maine," Norman said, "and several of them had not distributed the toys and so they are sending them back to (the toy distributor)."

Norman said Maine libraries purchased 89 packages of the toys, which each held 12 bendable cats or dogs, or 1,068 in total.

Winslow Public Library was among the libraries that did hand out the toys, which were manufactured in China.

Peggy Marcoux, assistant librarian at Winslow Public Library, said children in the program were able to take one of the toys from a box at the library.

Marcoux said librarians informed parents of the lead problem Tuesday at the weekly story time session.

Madison Public Library was closed on Thursday, while staff at Belgrade Public Library on Thursday did not know if toys had been purchased or handed out.

In a release, the Maine State Library said the distributor of the toys issued a recall after a test by the Indiana State Department of Health indicated that the lead content in the toys exceeded allowable federal regulations.

The Maine State Library also warned that elevated blood lead level in children can cause numerous health problems in young children. Those problems can include hearing loss, liver and kidney damage.

Maryann Amrich, manager of the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, a part of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said Maine has never had a case on record of lead poisoning in children that could be traced to toys.

She said lead paint and contaminated dust are the most common sources of poisoning.

Still, she said any time children are exposed to excessive lead levels every precaution should be taken.

"I think obviously we don't want to have any children in Maine exposed to lead in any form," Amrich said. "It is really something we try to limit."

Amrich said parents who believe their child may have been exposed to the toys should call their pediatrician to have the child tested.

Maine is one of 36 states that participated in the summer reading program, according to the Maine State Library.

"It is very surprising indeed," she said. "I was shocked to think that there could be an overly high lead content in hundreds of thousands of toys given to children across the United States."

Norman said Fun Express, a Nebraska-based wholesaler, provided about 340,000 of the toys to Highsmith Inc., the Wisconsin distribution company that supplied the libraries.

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