Thomas the Tank Engine in trouble!

Jun 18 2007

In the latest scare over products from China a popular line of children's toys has been recalled.

The recall involves over a million Thomas The Tank Engine wooden toys which have high levels of lead paint on them; lead paint is considered to be very dangerous for children and even when small amounts are ingested over a long period they can cause irreversible nervous damage.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the wooden toys, wooden vehicles, buildings and other train-set parts were sold between January of 2005 and June 2007.

The CPSC says the toys should be taken away from children immediately and the company RC2 contacted.

The majority of the affected toys are trains with red or yellow paint.

Such high lead paints were banned in the United States in 1970s, but remain in use in China.

This latest scare over products coming out of China comes hot on the heels of other recent alerts concerning pet food contaminated with a toxin, and toothpaste containing a chemical normally used in anti-freeze.

Since then shipments of health and dietary supplements have also been turned away from the U.S. border.

RC2 says there have been no reports to date of any child becoming sick due to playing with contaminated toys.

The recall for Thomas & Friends train toys was posted on the company’s web site and also on the web site of U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.