According to the CPSC, the surface paints on the wooden railway toys contain lead. As we very well know, many young children have the habit of putting their toys in their mouths. Lead happens to be toxic if ingested by young children. Fortunately, RC2 Corp. announced the recall before any untoward incidents occured.
The affected toys include Thomas the Tank wooden toy vehicles, buildings and various components of train sets as can be found in the article. In order to spot the recalled toys, just look at the packaging. According to the CPSC, the front of the packaging has the logo "Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway" on the upper left-hand corner. A manufacturing code may be located on the bottom of the product or inside the battery cover. Toys marked with codes containing "WJ" or "AZ" are not included in this recall.
So, what should you do if you are one of the consumers affected by the recall? First, take the toys away from your kids at once, and then call RC2 Corp. toll free at (866) 725-4407 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT Monday through Thursday and between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. CT Friday, or visit the firm's Web site at recalls.rc2.com.
Sorry, have to take issue with the part of your article where it says: “Fortunately, RC2 Corp. announced the recall before any untoward incidents occured.” I realize that is most likely a paraphrase of RC@ Corp’s own statement on the recall page: “”At this time, there have been no reports of illness or injury as a result of this issue.” But that is irrelevant as related to lead poisoning as there are rarely any immediate symptoms.
It is well documented that the effects of lead poisoning can take years to surface. In other words a child could have been chewing on one of these toys over several months, ingesting an unknown amount of lead, and sustaining slow damage to the brain and central nervous system that may not surface until years later (in the form of learning disabilities, autism, ADD).
There wouldn’t be any immediate symptoms, and even if a parent noticed a child’s behavior had changed, they most likely would not make a connection right away.
Hopefully parents who have children who used any of these toys are requesting a Pb blood test from their child’s physician. I think it would be nice to see some numbers too, regarding how much lead has been found, and some commentary from some real experts on this issue on what if any additionaly precautions parents should take (say someone from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (see http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HEC/CSEM/lead/index.html for a very informative series on lead toxicity etc.).