CONSUMER SAFETY - Disposal a murky issue in recall of lead-tainted items - State law holds sway, but there's no uniform procedure in place.

No one is exactly sure. And that worries some consumer activists, environmentalists and others who caution about weak oversight of the disposal process.

Lead-laced products, they warn, could contaminate landfills or groundwater. Even worse, they say, is that some recalled toys and other goods get resold -- both in the U.S. and abroad.

"There are so many recalls right now and nobody is saying, 'What's next?' " said Charlie Pizarro, associate director for the Center for Environmental Health in Oakland. "There is no answer for how to dispose of them."

There is no single, nationally accepted procedure for dealing with such items from the time of recall to final, safe disposal.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission, the federal agency that oversees the recall of lead-tainted and other dangerous items, asks consumers to return the products to the company recalling them. Those companies are then bound by state laws regarding disposal of hazardous materials, an agency spokeswoman said.

"You can't just throw it in the kitchen garbage can; there are regulations on disposal," spokeswoman Julie Vallese said. "The companies are well aware of state laws and state guidelines they need to follow."

But Jamie Cameron-Harley, a spokeswoman for the California Integrated Waste Management Board, which overseas municipal garbage dumps and recycling programs, says she's mystified about the ultimate destination of the lead-laced products -- especially those returned to companies.

"Everyone says give them back to the manufacturer, but we don't know what the manufacturer does with it," she said.

In other cases, state agencies have urged consumers to bring lead-tainted items to local hazardous waste disposal sites or to state offices.

Two weeks ago, for instance, California had to initiate its own recall of lead-contaminated totes handed out by the state Department of Public Health.

Subsequently, the California Public Employees Retirement System found unsafe lead levels on some of the 600 similar lunch bags it gave away at orientation meetings.

Both agencies urged people who had the bags either to return them to the place they got them or dispose of them at local centers for household hazardous waste -- where items such as batteries, oil-based paints and computer monitors also are supposed to go.