Yes, China needs to clean up its act on environmental issues. But before everything coming out of China is labeled 'toxic,' let's see who really dropped the ball on toy-maker accountability.

Mattel has already pointed to 'product design' as responsible for its recall of Chinese-made children's toys with magnets and other parts that could break off. Flaws in product design? This is an engineering and design problem that did not originate in manufacturing.

Second, testing for lead in a product is relatively easy. Soak it in water and then measure the amount, if any, of lead that is leeched from the product. Why didn't Mattel test its own products? Or if it did test prototypes, why would Mattel and others not randomly test finished products from the shelf as part of its quality control program?

Third, the issue regarding lead in children's jewelry is several years old. The media was late to it. The Center for Environmental Health (a key group targetted by the California AG's efforts to reign in so-called 'bounty hunter' legal groups for bringing too many frivolous lawsuits under Proposition 65) sued toy manufacturers in 2003 after finding some level of lead in toy jewelry. That means the manufacturers were not suprised when - suddenly! - someone ratted on the Chinese! The manufacturer already knew about the lead.

Then there is the Center for Environmental Health, a group of lawyers that has become wealthy sending 'letters of intent' to businesses in just about every sector of the economy, then 'settling' these suits for millions of dollars. Unlike most class-action suits, there's not even a pretense of money going to defendants in these cases. There are no defendants. Under California law, lawyers can bring suit - supposedly in the public interest - and legally pocket all money they get from settlement or (rarely) judgment. In fact, I could bring such a suit and pocket the money myself.

Once again the media has heated up an issue beyond recognition and without asking any of the right questions.

I hear and agree with calls for US companies to be more accountable for their products. The Consumer Product Safety Commission recalls many products every year for lead contamination and dozens more for other potential hazards. Companies are obviously aware of the problem but I guess it must be more economical for them to make the occasional massive recall than to actually test their products themselves.

I'm somewhat curious as to where all of these recalled toys are going. Are they taking them to a landfill and capping that portion off? Or are they being sent back to the factories to have the lead paint removed off of the toys?

I think the toys are landfilled, hopefully in a dispersed manner. There is nothing short of nuclear fission that can actually eliminate lead from existing. The key to reducing its harm is to not allow it to exist in concentrated amounts where small children can ingest it.