WFAA-TV

Tests commissioned by News 8 found dangerous lead in this toy car.

NEWS 8 INVESTIGATES

In a little more than a week, nine different toys have been recalled for lead contamination.

However, it wasn't the government that ordered the recall. Under current law, companies do them voluntarily.

But News 8 learned that while some major toy importers know they have sold problem toys in North Texas, they have not initiated an official recall.

Lead can permanently damage a child's intelligence.

Rev. Peter Johnson heads the Texas Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and said he is concerned innercity children face a disproportionate risk because of where their parents shop.

"This is a real problem for America," he said. "We will raise up a generation of second class intellectual children because of this."

There are two kinds of dollar stores, the major chains and the "mom-and-pop" stores.

Big chains, like Dollar General, tend to take an aggressive approach when recalling toys with lead in them.

However, some of the mom-and-pop stores seemed to get their toys from a shadowy chain of toy suppliers. There are no brand names on the line, which can make it easier to avoid responsibility when problems arise.

Traces of lead were found in the toy car "Super Famous." Tracing the toy car, it could be bought from a dollar store on Maple Avenue, which was purchased from a wholesaler on Harry Hines, but originally came from a Los Angeles toy importer.

It's a 99-cent symbol of a shadowy supply chain, delivering problem Chinese toys to American children without accountability.

Mike Wurzman works for a company called Innov-X Systems. His X-ray gun is commonly used in the industry and by the government.

"When I pull the trigger, I actually generate X-rays," he said.

The gun is used to screen for the presence of lead.

"This allows us to go out, and often times in about 10 seconds, know if there is lead in the paint of a child's toy," Wurzman said.

Using just that gun, excessive levels of lead were found in 15 different dollar store toys.

News 8 went to dollar stores across North Texas to check toys for lead.

While the majority of the toys checked were clean, at a Dollar General, News 8 found three packages of toys with excessive levels of lead.

The company immediately pulled 400,000 units from all store shelves and recalled all the toys.

Dollar General is a national operation with its own supply chain and a brand name to protect.

"What's at stake is not just the loss of sales for that particular brand or product," said Raj Sethuranman, who teaches marketing at Southern Methodist University. "What's at stake is their image and reputation."

But mom and pop dollars stores buy their toys on a handshake and get no guarantees, which can lead to toys like the "Super Famous."

Government standards allow no more than 600 parts per million of lead.

News 8 screening test showed almost 20,000 parts. The sticker on the back led to Prime Wholesalers in Dallas.

Within a few minutes at the store, News 8 found six contaminated items.

"We found more lead contaminated toys than I expected to really find in there," said Johnson, who joined News 8 during the trips to the stores.

The owner agreed not to sell the items and gave the name of the company who sold the toys to him, which were major importers in Los Angeles.

"If the toys are emanating from here, if this is where the toys are coming into California to be shipped to distributors and retailers across the nation, we need to talk to the people who's importing these toys," Johnson said.

After calling ahead, News 8 asked three Los Angeles importers to be allowed to check their toys for lead. A company called Safety Check brought along two X-ray guns to check a potentially large amount of stock. But no one gave permission. One importer even called the police.

OKK Toys was the source of three of the toys discovered to have elevated levels of lead.

SU Wholesalers was the source of the "Super Famous" race car. News 8 was told the owner was in China.

"Christmas is coming," Johnson told those at the business. "These toys are poisoning our children. You all may not think that's important."

Neither OKK nor SU Wholesalers has initiated a voluntary recall to retrieve the problem toys.

"The message that it sends is that the distributors and the wholesalers have something to hide," Johnsons said of neither business allowing their toys to be checked.

In an e-mail to News 8, the owner of SU Wholesalers said it would ask retailers to post a sign asking customers to return the item back to the store, which was a stark contrast to the Dollar General pulling the toys off their stores, running their own tests and then ordering a recall. They also offered refunds.

"So, how are you going to recall these toys?" Johnsons said. "We're talking about individual, independent retailers with these toys on the shelves."

But without a brand name on the line, there is little incentive for anyone in the mom and pop supply chain to take responsibility.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission said even though recalls are voluntary, in the end, government investigations are what push many companies to act.

President Bush recently proposed new import rules that would give the CPSC the authority to order mandatory recalls.

E-mail dschechter@wfaa.com