Parents scoured children's playrooms and retailers scurried to clear their shelves after manufacturers ordered a series of recalls this summer, saying millions of popular toys may have been made with lead paint.
But the risk of lead poisoning is as strong as ever, experts say; it's just that the biggest threat probably isn't in the toy box.
Children are at greater risk of lead poisoning from living in a home with deteriorating old paint, or one that is going through a remodel, than they are from most toys, according to federal tallies. Toys with lead paint don't even pose the biggest threat among playthings.
Lead paint has been banned in the U.S. since 1978, but older homes typically have layers of the dangerous wall covering beneath newer coats. In good condition and left undisturbed, the lead paint poses little threat. But after it's chipped or begins creating dust, the danger grows.
"By far and away historically, the major concern about sources for lead has been your home," said Dr. Helen Binns, a professor of pediatrics and preventive medicine at Northwestern University's medical school.
"You may handle your toy for a few moments a day, but if you're in a home going through remodeling, you generate dust throughout your whole house," Binns said. "So you're exposed everywhere you go, not just when you're playing."
Lead paint on toys still poses some risk, health officials say. But when it comes to toys, the biggest dangers don't come from the paint on a truck, train or doll.
Instead, the deadliest playthings are among the oldest and simplest: balloons and small rubber balls or marbles.
"I think people don't always worry about the right things," said Dr. Garry Gardner, chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics' committee on injury, violence and poison prevention.
He says that is partly because there is so much for parents to worry about: "Is their child in a properly fastened car seat? Do they have a smoke detector and a carbon monoxide detector working? Is their hot water heater turned down so that there isn't a scalding risk? Do they have a pool that isn't fenced on all four sides?
"It's hard telling parents to relax a bit," Gardner said.
A wave of recalls
Although there have been fewer toy recalls so far this year than for the same period in 2006, the millions of toys deemed unsafe this summer struck a nerve with consumers and thus with manufacturers, retailers and politicians.
