The Little Engine That Could Poison

by Christian Warren

FOR decades, Thomas the Tank Engine and his fellow trains have been teaching children important life lessons. Now the plucky locomotives — especially the haughty and sometimes naughty James the Red Engine — are serving up important lessons about regulating environmental poisons in the global economy.

Last week, the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission announced that a toy maker, RC2 Corporation of Oak Brook, Ill., was recalling some 1.5 million Thomas & Friends wooden railway toys because their bright red or yellow coatings contain lead.

NYTimes article

read also::: Made in China Inc. blog article - Thomas the Tank - RECALL

Thomas the Tank---RECALL

RC2 Corp., maker of the Thomas the Tank Engine toys, warned parents to keep their children away from 1.5 million Thomas & Friends toys (joining a growing list of Chinese-made products to be pulled from store shelves for safety reasons) because the surface paint contains lead--- a toxin that's dangerous if swallowed.


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"Consumers should take the recalled toys away from young children immediately," the Consumer Product Safety Commission said in the recall notice.