Post by nelsonthedon on Dec 8, 2009 9:02:06 GMT -5
online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704825504574582393762849248.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Federal product-safety regulators are continuing to look into allegations by a little-known consumer group that one model of the hot-selling Zhu Zhu toy hamster contains excessive levels of a toxic chemical even as the group acknowledged an "error" in how it portrayed the results.
The product's maker, Cepia LLC, said Monday that the toy is completely safe and that the consumer group GoodGuide.com used an "inferior" testing methodology. GoodGuide.com on Monday said the testing methodology it used involved testing the product's surface rather than solubility, the amount of a chemical that dissolves in liquid, as used by federal test standards.
"While we accurately reported the chemical levels in the toys that we measured using our testing method, we should not have compared our results to federal standards. We regret this error," GoodGuide.com said in a prepared statement.
"Zhu Zhu Pets products are tested by our internal teams at the point of production, and reviewed by our independent third party testing agency," said Cepia Chief Executive Russ Hornsby, in a statement Monday. GoodGuide was unavailable to comment.
Retailer Toys "R" Us Inc. said test reports "clearly indicate that the Zhu Zhu Pets product meets all federal safety requirements, as well as safety requirements in other countries."
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Zhu Zhu, a toy hampster, was cleared Monday by the CPSC of a contamination claim by a California group.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission began looking into the matter on Friday, a spokesman said. He declined to say what prompted the agency's review, but the timing coincides with the release of GoodGuide.com's results. The agency often looks into findings released by consumer groups that do their own testing of toys.
"We are taking a serious look at this product. We're going to move swiftly. We understand how popular this toy is," the CPSC spokesman said. He later added that the solubility test for antimony that's part of the new federal toy standard is "highly protective of children and has not been exceeded in the case of this toy."
Nevertheless, the CPSC is still investigating the matter, according to a person familiar with the matter. There won't be a recall of the toy due to a violation of the new federal toy standard for antimony, that person said.
The developments underscore the role that consumer groups can play in helping the government regulate children's products, but also the confusion they can bring.
GoodGuide.com, a San Francisco consumer group, said in a statement that it hired a technician to work with its science team and tested toys with an x-ray fluorescence analyzer. XRF technology is used in various handheld testing guns that can screen for about two dozen elements, such as lead, cadmium and titanium. When the trigger of the battery-powered device is pulled, a miniaturized X-ray tube inside emits rays that strike the sample being tested. The elements in that sample emit return rays with frequencies that indicate which elements are present and in what amounts.
GoodGuide.com said it scanned different parts of multiple samples of each toy and tested each three times, providing readings on the presence of metals and chemicals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, tin, antimony, chlorine, and bromine. GoodGuide.com said it tested the top layer of each toy because that's the part children are most likely to be in contact with. GoodGuide.com said it did not conduct destructive testing, breaking apart the toys and testing inner materials.
GoodGuide.com said it found dangerous levels of metals and chemicals in several toys. The group's site claimed Bakugan Battle Crawlers by Spin Master Ltd. also contained potentially toxic contaminants in excess of federal guidelines. A Spin Master spokesman said, "All of our toys meet or exceed global safety standards."
Write to Melanie Trottman at melanie.trottman@wsj.com and Ann Zimmerman at ann.zimmerman@wsj.com
Federal product-safety regulators are continuing to look into allegations by a little-known consumer group that one model of the hot-selling Zhu Zhu toy hamster contains excessive levels of a toxic chemical even as the group acknowledged an "error" in how it portrayed the results.
The product's maker, Cepia LLC, said Monday that the toy is completely safe and that the consumer group GoodGuide.com used an "inferior" testing methodology. GoodGuide.com on Monday said the testing methodology it used involved testing the product's surface rather than solubility, the amount of a chemical that dissolves in liquid, as used by federal test standards.
"While we accurately reported the chemical levels in the toys that we measured using our testing method, we should not have compared our results to federal standards. We regret this error," GoodGuide.com said in a prepared statement.
"Zhu Zhu Pets products are tested by our internal teams at the point of production, and reviewed by our independent third party testing agency," said Cepia Chief Executive Russ Hornsby, in a statement Monday. GoodGuide was unavailable to comment.
Retailer Toys "R" Us Inc. said test reports "clearly indicate that the Zhu Zhu Pets product meets all federal safety requirements, as well as safety requirements in other countries."
View Full Image
a$sociated Press
Zhu Zhu, a toy hampster, was cleared Monday by the CPSC of a contamination claim by a California group.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission began looking into the matter on Friday, a spokesman said. He declined to say what prompted the agency's review, but the timing coincides with the release of GoodGuide.com's results. The agency often looks into findings released by consumer groups that do their own testing of toys.
"We are taking a serious look at this product. We're going to move swiftly. We understand how popular this toy is," the CPSC spokesman said. He later added that the solubility test for antimony that's part of the new federal toy standard is "highly protective of children and has not been exceeded in the case of this toy."
Nevertheless, the CPSC is still investigating the matter, according to a person familiar with the matter. There won't be a recall of the toy due to a violation of the new federal toy standard for antimony, that person said.
The developments underscore the role that consumer groups can play in helping the government regulate children's products, but also the confusion they can bring.
GoodGuide.com, a San Francisco consumer group, said in a statement that it hired a technician to work with its science team and tested toys with an x-ray fluorescence analyzer. XRF technology is used in various handheld testing guns that can screen for about two dozen elements, such as lead, cadmium and titanium. When the trigger of the battery-powered device is pulled, a miniaturized X-ray tube inside emits rays that strike the sample being tested. The elements in that sample emit return rays with frequencies that indicate which elements are present and in what amounts.
GoodGuide.com said it scanned different parts of multiple samples of each toy and tested each three times, providing readings on the presence of metals and chemicals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, tin, antimony, chlorine, and bromine. GoodGuide.com said it tested the top layer of each toy because that's the part children are most likely to be in contact with. GoodGuide.com said it did not conduct destructive testing, breaking apart the toys and testing inner materials.
GoodGuide.com said it found dangerous levels of metals and chemicals in several toys. The group's site claimed Bakugan Battle Crawlers by Spin Master Ltd. also contained potentially toxic contaminants in excess of federal guidelines. A Spin Master spokesman said, "All of our toys meet or exceed global safety standards."
Write to Melanie Trottman at melanie.trottman@wsj.com and Ann Zimmerman at ann.zimmerman@wsj.com