Today, the Consumer Product Safety Commission will announce a nationwide recall for millions of piece of toy jewelry that you might typically see in gumball machines. As I have told you several times in recent weeks here on Al’s Morning Meeting, a significant amount of that junk jewelry contains lead — not just a little bit of lead, but in some cases half of the jewelry piece is lead and it leaches out of the trinket.
The CPSC notice said:
In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), four toy jewelry importers today announced the voluntary recall of 150 million pieces of toy jewelry sold in vending machines across America. CPSC has determined that some of this toy jewelry contains dangerous levels of lead, posing a risk of lead poisoning to children. Only about half of the 150 million pieces of toy jewelry actually contains lead, but, because it is difficult to distinguish the lead jewelry from the non-lead jewelry, the industry decided to recall all of it.
CPSC has received one report of lead poisoning when a child swallowed a piece of toy jewelry containing lead that was previously recalled. No reports of injury or illness have been received for the recalled products announced today. Young children sometimes mouth or swallow items like these, and lead can leach from the jewelry into the child’s body. Lead poisoning in children is associated with behavioral problems, learning disabilities, hearing problems, and growth retardation.
The four (novelty jewelry) firms involved in the recall have advised the Commission that they have stopped importing toy jewelry with lead and are committed to working with the CPSC staff on eliminating hazardous levels of lead in future importations of toy jewelry.
“With millions of pieces of jewelry involved in this recall, I urge parents to search their children’s toys for this jewelry,” said CPSC Chairman Hal Stratton. “Throw away this recalled toy jewelry.”
Consumers should throw away recalled jewelry. Consumers can contact the Toy Jewelry Recall Hotline for more information about this recall. Visit the Toy Jewelry Recall Hotline at (800) 682-9612 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit the firms’ website at www.toyjewelryrecall.com.
The toy jewelry was sold in vending machines located in malls, discount, department and grocery stores nationwide from January 2002 through June 2004 for between $0.25 and $0.75. The industry estimates that this toy jewelry is kept in homes for a short period of time, but parents should look for these items in their homes.
Click here to see images of some of the recalled pieces.
Here is some previous coverage from Al’s Morning Meeting on June 24 and July 1.
An Illinois Congresswoman raised questions about the government’s standards for lead in toys.
Terri Gruca at WCCO-TV in Minneapolis has been on the case. Here is a link to some of her coverage.
The Chicago Sun-Times tested some of the toy jewelry and found it contained more than 180,000 parts per million lead.
The California Attorney General went after some big retailers who were allegedly selling lead laced jewelry (a different issue than these toy jewelry items being recalled today).
Forget About Falling Oil Prices
In April, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said oil prices might fall to $30 a barrel by the end of this year. Last month, the guess was we might see $33 a barrel oil. But now the federal agency says we should brace ourselves for $37 a barrel prices for the next year and a half. In other words, forget about any big drop in oil prices any time soon.
In 2005, assuming that crude oil prices (WTI) average $37 per barrel, motor gasoline prices are projected to average about $1.83 per gallon.
The agency says gasoline will probably remain at about $1.89 per gallon through the fall of this year.
This seems pretty important, especially for airlines, school systems, government agencies, and any business with a fleet of cars, as budget forecasting begins for the new year.
Here is a story from Financial Times.
Fewer Scrapped Vehicles
Sometimes I find stories that just make me sit back and say “huh?” This is once such little tidbit that I am pretty sure is significant, but I am not sure yet what it means. The number of vehicles being scrapped in the United States dropped a whopping 9 percent last year. That seems like a big drop for one year.
R. L. Polk & Co., which follows automotive data reported that the “scrappage rate” is the lowest it has been since 1948, and that the median age of cars in the United States is now more than 8 and a half years. Ten years ago, the median age of cars was 7 and a half years. We are keeping our cars longer.
Some thoughts:
The number of passenger cars scrapped in 2003 was down 6.1 percent while light trucks experienced a 12.7 percent decrease. Both numbers were factors in driving the scrappage rate down for all vehicles, a trend since 1970 …
“Cars and light trucks are becoming more durable,” said Mike Gingell, vice president of Polk’s aftermarket team. “Although the scrappage rate for all trucks increased, the scrappage rate for light trucks stands at 6 percent, which is the lowest scrappage rate since Polk’s light truck report was introduced in 2000. While we saw a significant increase in scrappage rates for the heavier trucks, the overall percentage was driven down by cars and light trucks.”
- Why are people holding on to cars longer?
- Take me to the scrap yard — what happens to scrapped car pieces?
- Are salvage yards also a dying breed if cars are lasting longer? I kept my old truck running for many years on salvage yard parts, including some dandy seats my wife bought me for my birthday. I bet it would be pretty darn difficult to get a zoning permit to open or operate a salvage yard these days.
- I was talking to my colleague Roy Peter Clark about this story and he said it could be that the whole idea of “when you buy a used car you are buying somebody else’s problems” is a thing of the past. Now, since cars last so long, used cars are even more attractive.
- I have not studied this statistic for some time, but you could look in your state to see if it is true — the last time I looked, there were many more used cars sold in America than new ones. Look, for example, at the State of Maryland’s used versus new car figures. In some months there are 30-40 percent more used cars sold than new ones.
One-Third of all Software Pirated
Here is a sobering number. A third of all programs running on computers worldwide are running on stolen software, according to a new survey. The same study says 9 out of 10 programs running in China are running on illegal software.
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Editor’s Note: Al’s Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, story excerpts, and other materials from a variety of websites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed, and a link will be provided, whenever possible.
