WHERE ARE THE HEADLINES ABOUT THIS ????

Today while checking the latest news on the CBC website I noticed a link on the side bar that made reference to "recalls and consumer advisories". Intrigued I clicked and discovered a web page that is nothing if not FRIGHTENING.

The web page (click here) has 194 Childrens items on a recall list over the last couple of months - the VAST MAJORITY of them as a result of concerns over the level of LEAD contained in them. From building blocks to buttons - there is a dizzying array of everyday childrens' items, some that my own kids have likely played with in the past, that are on the recall list because the manufacturers saw fit to USE LEAD IN THE PRODUCTION !!

As I read through the list I couldn't help but wonder WHY ???

Not only why is lead there at all, but why as consumers do we have to DIGGING to find this information???

One of the items is a baby sleeper and bootie set sold at Zellers that has lead in the BUTTONS!! How many of these sleeper sets have been wrapped on children across Canada?? And how many of those parents have the TIME and ENERGY to go LOOKING for the recall notice buried in a subcategory of the CBC web site????

I found it because I'm confortable with the technology of the web, and today as I contrinue to recover from whatever bug has thumped through our house, I have little else to keep me occupied - so clicking a few side bar links was EASY ...

But I seriously doubt many people even KNOW this link exists, and if they do, I doubt they go looking very often ...

I don't dare to offer a solution here ... but I think there needs to be MORE AWARENESS out there about the dangers lurking in the toy bins ... handing kids lead tainted toys just ain't on ... ALL of this is the direct result of consumers' foolish desire to get the lowest price - the race to the bottom has its costs ... but I'm not willing to tolerate that cost being exacted on the backs of our children ...

Spread the word ... tell your friends and neighbours - the more who know about the sheer number of recalls the better ... maybe when we wake up and realize that the world isn't getting better through shopping, then we can really address the issues facing us and our planet ...