Wal-Mart, the world’s largest toy retailer, has told its suite of suppliers that they must meet new safety standards for toxics in toys by later this year. Some 25 million toys were recalled by toy makers last year in the United States, many due to high lead levels. Wal-Mart’s new standards apply to a range of toxics, including antimony, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, and mercury. The retailer’s new lead standard for toys is more than six times as strict as current federal standards, allowing lead in concentrations of no more than 90 parts per million on toy surfaces; the federal standard is 600 parts per million. The levels of some phthalates, chemicals used to soften plastic, will also be restricted in certain products intended for kids under three years old. In an email to its suppliers outlining the policy, Wal-Mart wrote, “It is your responsibility as a supplier to monitor all legislation and to produce product that complies with all laws and Wal-Mart requirements, whichever is more stringent.”
