Toxic toys targeted on new Web site

A Hannah Montana card game case, a Go Diego Go! backpack, and Circo brand shoes were among the toys registering high lead levels in tests conducted by a coalition of environmental health organizations.

The coalition is fed up with the toy recalls of 2007 and is fighting back.

Well, sort of.

The group is calling on toy retailers, the federal government and toy manufacturers to be more proactive in protecting kids from toys loaded with toxic chemicals.

In response, the new alliance today will launch a Web site, www.healthytoys.org, designed to educate parents about toy safety.

The site will allow consumers to check how products rank from highest to lowest in terms of lead, cadmium and other chemicals.

The Michigan-based Ecology Center, in collaboration with the Washington Toxics Coalition and other environmental health groups, tested more than 1,500 toys and children's products.

The highest concentrations of lead - which has been linked to behavioral problems and decreases in IQ points - were found in jewelry. More then 33 percent of the 504 pieces of jewelry tested contained lead at levels greater than 600 parts per million - an amount that would trigger further testing by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Products made of soft plastic also dominated the list of toys with high levels of lead.

Whether children can access lead in toys may soon be moot: the House is expected to take up legislation this week that would ban lead from children's products, including metal jewelry and vinyl goods.

The center's full report and database of tested toys is available at www.healthytoys.org.