Along with Center for Environmental Health, which also issued a report on lead yesterday, PIRG got the message out yesterday that "The best holiday gift Congress can give children, America's littlest consumers, is strong product safety legislation." Here's the Washington Post story by Annys Shin: Groups Expose Hidden Toy Hazards. Hope Yen's AP story is running nationwide: Parents Beware: Are Those Toys Safe?.

As the Daily Herald reports in Joseph Ryan's story Parents' predicament: So which toys are safe?, both Senator Dick Durbin and Representative Bobby Rush, two key CPSC reform players on Capitol Hill, joined Illinois PIRG's Brian Imus at a news conference in Chicago:

"It might just be a good Christmas for books or movies," Durbin said, searching for an answer for toy shoppers. U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, a Chicago Democrat, said he just won't buy anything made in China. That blanket standard removes more than 80 percent of toys from the shelves. Plus, some toys simply don't have "made in" labels. Imus said adults should certainly avoid toys at dollar stores, because they have been the subject of numerous lead-related recalls. He pointed out a small metal jewelry piece the interest group bought at such a store in Chicago. It was 65 percent lead by weight, 1,000 times the federal limit.