The report, released this morning, reveals the results of laboratory testing on toys for lead and phthalates, both of which have been proven to have serious adverse health impacts on the development of young children. The survey also found toys that pose either choking or noise hazards.

“Choking on small parts, small balls and balloons is still a leading cause of toy-related injury. Between 1990 and 2009 over 200 children have died,” said Matt Wallace, AKPIRG Executive Director. “While most toys are safe, our researchers still found toys on the shelves that pose choking hazards and other toys that contain hazardous levels of toxic chemicals including lead,” he explained.

For 26 years, the AKPIRG Trouble in Toyland report has offered safety guidelines for purchasing toys for small children and provided examples of toys currently on store shelves that pose potential safety hazards. The group also provides an interactive website with tips for safe toy shopping that consumers can access on their smart phones at www.toysafety.mobi

Key findings from the report include:

Toys with high levels of toxic substances are still on store shelves. Two toys contain levels of phthalates – a chemical that poses development hazards for small children — at 40 and 70 times allowable limits. Several toys violate current allowable lead limits (300ppm). Lead has negative health effects on almost every organ and system in the human body.
Despite a ban on small parts in toys for children under three, we found toys available in stores that still pose choking hazards.
We also found toys that are potentially harmful to children’s ears and exceed the hearing standards recommended by the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.

In 2008, Congress placed strict limits on concentrations of lead and phthalates in toys and children articles in a law that also gave greater authority and funding to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Wallace noted that the CPSC has a new database of both potential hazards and recalled products at saferproducts.gov.

While federal action has moved the ball forward, there are still potential toxic hazards not addressed in federal law. The Alaska legislature is considering several bills that would significantly reduce toxic chemicals in toys and other consumer goods.

“There is no good reason to have toxic chemicals linked to cancer and learning disabilities in toys with which our children play, especially as we see these rates of disease on the rise in the US.” Representative Scott Kawasaki said. “Alaska must do all it can to protect healthy children and families and prevent our state from becoming a dumping ground for these toxic toys.”

“Parents and toy givers need to remember that while the CPSC is doing a good job, it doesn’t test all toys on the shelves. Consumers should also remember that toys that are not on our list of examples could also pose hazards,” Wallace concluded. “Our new Toy Tips explains the most common toy hazards and our mobile app.”

A pdf version of both documents are available:

Toy Tips
Trouble in Toyland

Executive Summary

The 2011 Trouble in Toyland report is our 26th annual survey of toy safety. In this report, we provide safety guidelines for consumers when purchasing toys for young children and provide examples of toys currently on store shelves that may pose potential safety hazards.

Over the past twenty five years, the report has identified hazards in toys and children’s products that could cause an acute injury from small parts that pose a choking hazard, to strangulation hazards from cords on pull toys, to laceration hazards from edges that are too sharp and to toxics hazards posed by toys. Our report has led to at least 150 recalls and other regulatory actions over the years, and has helped us to advocate for stronger federal laws to protect children from unsafe products. This report continues to be an important endeavor in keeping children, particularly babies and toddlers safe, as the majority of all injuries happen to children in the 0-2 age range.

The enactment of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008 made great strides in toy safety and strengthened the ability of the Consumer Product Safety Commission CPSC to protect consumers, including the littlest consumers—children. Although in 2011 policymakers delayed implementation of its most stringent lead standard rules and enacted some narrow exceptions, on the whole the law has been protected from being weakened. However, we remain vigilant as a variety of regulatory threats to the CPSC’s tools and authority remain under consideration by policymakers.

We Looked For Common Hazards in Toys

We visited numerous national toy stores, malls and dollar stores in September and October 2011 to identify potentially dangerous toys. Our researchers examined the CPSC notices of recalls and other regulatory actions to identify trends in toy safety. Our investigation is focused on toys that posed a potential toxic, choking, strangulation or noise hazard. Our list of dangerous toys is in no way exhaustive, it represents a small sampling of the toys that can be found for sale.

Our Key Findings Include:

Lead Continues to be a Hazard in Toys
Exposure to lead can affect almost every organ and system in the human body, especially the central nervous system. Lead is especially harmful to the brains of young children and has no business in children’s products. This year our investigators found 2 toys whose lead levels exceeded the current 300ppm standard set by the CPSIA and one additional toy that exceeded its prospective 100ppm standard; we found 4 additional toys that exceeded the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation that lead levels in toys should not exceed 40ppm.

Phthalates in Toys
Numerous studies have documented the potential negative health effects of exposure to phthalates in the womb or in child development. U.S. EPA studies show the cumulative impact of different phthalates leads to an exponential increase in harms including premature delivery and reproductive defects. The CPSIA permanently banned toys containing three phthalates and set temporary limits on three others, while tests continue. No toy or childcare article can contain more than 1000ppm of each of the six phthalates.

This year, we found two toys that laboratory testing showed to contain 42,000 ppm and 77,000 ppm levels of phthalates. These products exceed limits allowed by the CPSIA by 42 and 77 times, respectively.

Choking Hazards
Choking on small toy parts, on small balls, on marbles and balloons continues to be the major cause of toy-related deaths and injuries. Between 1990 and 2010, over 200 children died from a choking incident.

This year we found several toys that violated CPSC’s small parts for toys standard intended for children less than 3 years old. We also found “near small part” toys that – while not in violation of current regulations — support our call for the small parts test to be made less permissive. Finally, we found toys intended for older children that failed to provide choking hazards warnings required for small parts or small balls.

Noisy Toys
Research has shown a third of Americans with hearing loss can attribute it in part to noise. The third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey showed one in five U.S. children will have some degree of hearing loss by the time they reach age 12; this may be in part due to many children using toys and other children’s products that emit loud sounds such as music players. The National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders advises that prolonged exposure to noise above 85 decibels will cause gradual hearing loss in any age range. We found 1 toy on store shelves that exceeded the recommended continuous exposure to 85-decibel limit and 2 close-to-the-ear toys that exceeded the 65 decibel limit when measured with a digital sound level meter.

Recommendations for Policy Makers

Policy makers must ensure that stepped increases in budget authorizations mandated by the CPSIA for the CPSC, (which increase to $136 million for FY2014) are fully funded in appropriations. Policymakers must also continue vigorous oversight of implementation and enforcement of the new law.
Manufacturers should be required to provide all hazard and health-impact information to the state and federal government, so agencies can begin to assess the thousands of chemicals currently on the market for which little or inadequate data are available.
There is overwhelming evidence showing that that the Toxic Substances Control Act is failing our most vulnerable consumers; i.e. pregnant women, babies and children. Policymakers should take steps to ensure the American people are better protected from toxins in the environment.
Policymakers should reject well-funded special interest efforts to weaken the ability of regulatory agencies to conduct rulemakings or enforce rules designed to protect public health and safety.

For The Consumer Product Safety Commission

CPSC should review and where necessary expand its definition of a “small part” or “small toy” to include parts and toys that are larger than the current standard, but have been shown to pose a choking hazard to children.
The CPSC should continue to proceed with mandatory rulemaking to regulate cadmium limits in children’s jewelry.
The CPSC should vigorously enforce lead and phthalate limits in toys; CPSC should move to using the lead standards recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics of 40ppm.
CPSC must ensure that new third-party testing programs meet CPSIA standards. As the CPSC continues to implement its new publicly accessible toy and other product incident database at www.saferproducts.gov , it must make sure that it provides the information consumers need to make informed choices in the marketplace.

For Consumers

Be vigilant this holiday season, and remember:

The CPSC does not test all toys, and not all toys on store shelves meet CPSC standards. There is no comprehensive list of potentially hazardous toys. Examine toys carefully for potential dangers before you make a purchase. Shop with our Toy Safety Tips, available at www.toysafety. mobi and in the leaflet available on our website. Parents should continue to be vigilant about metals in toys as they may contain lead or cadmium above the mandatory safety limits. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that all children be screened for exposure to lead. A simple and inexpensive blood test can determine whether or not a child has a dangerous level of lead in his or her body. The test can be obtained through a physician, or public health agency.
Report unsafe toys or toy-related injuries to the CPSC at www.cpsc.gov and to www.saferproducts. gov or call the CPSC at 1-800-504-7923.

Alaska Dispatch: Alaska Regulators Approve Fire Island Wind Power Project

Anchorage Daily News: Regulators OK Sale of Wind Power

APRN: RCA Approves Purchase Agreement Between Chugach Electric, Fire Island Wind

KTUU Channel 2: Fire Island Wind Project Approved

KTVA Channel 11: Fire Island Wind Project Approved

Your Alaska Link Channel 4/Channel 13: RCA Approves Fire Island Wind Project

The Alaska Center for the Environment (ACE), Alaska Public Interest Group (AKPIRG) and the Alaska Conservation Alliance (ACA) worked together on behalf of their members to ensure Fire Island Wind Project became a reality.

“This is a huge step toward energy diversification and price stability in the Railbelt,” stated Steve Cleary of the Alaska Public Interest Research Group (AkPIRG) “Whereas other proposed energy sources are many years away, Chugach customers can now expect to be using renewable wind power as early as 2012,” Cleary continued.

“The RCA’s approval allows for 6,000 homes, nearly four percent of Chugach’s energy needs, to be powered by clean and local wind energy,” stated Kate McKeown, Clean Energy Coordinator with the Alaska Conservation Alliance. “By offsetting natural gas, Southcentral Alaska is moving toward reducing our reliability on volatile natural gas prices.”

According to CIRI, the 11-turbine commercial-scale wind farm on Fire Island, three miles west of Anchorage, will provide 51,000 MW-hours of power to Chugach Electric Association annually, and has a generating capacity of 17.6 MW. With additional buyers, the project has the potential to expand to 33 turbines, generating nearly 53MW annually. RCA’s decision to approve the Power Purchase Agreement guarantees a 25-year, flat net price for the wind power.

The entire RCA ruling can be found here.

From that page you can also check out what others have written (including our comment), or just read on:

Public Comment for TA335-8 by Matthew Wallace

As director for the Alaska Public Interest Research Group, the state’s largest consumer advocacy organization, I’d like to take this opportunity to express strong support the proposed Fire Island Wind generation project, and urge the RCA to approve tariff revision TA335-8 without delay.

The age of cheap natural gas from Cook Inlet is quickly coming to an end, and the Fire Island Wind project is a significant opportunity to begin diversifying our sources of energy– and providing a real cost savings to consumers over the life of the project. Additionally, since the cost of the power is fixed over the 25 year life of the project, Fire Island Wind energy could potentially help stabilize prices for consumers in the event of future volatility in the price of gas.

The project also helps bring Chugach Electric, and the state of Alaska, closer to the ambitious renewable energy goals established by the utility and the legislature.

Finally, this project is significant because it represents the first commercial scale, non-hydro renewable energy project on the railbelt. Success here can help pave the way for more affordable, reliable renewable energy projects in the future.

I strongly urge your support.

Sincerely,
Matt Wallace
Executive Director
AKPIRG

AKPIRG’s report release coincided with the first of six free toxic toy screenings the group is hosting around Anchorage during the busy shopping weekend.

Using an XRF Scanner, AKPIRG representatives screened dozens of toys brought from home by concerned parents.  Today’s event was held at Arctic Playgroundz, a local business featuring and indoor playground for kids and coffee and sandwiches for parents.

“Our first screening event turned up lead paint in several items brought to us by concerned parents,” said Matt Wallace, AKPIRG Director.  “However, we’re happy to say that most of the items we screened today did not appear to contain lead, cadmium, mercury, or brominated flame retardants.”

AKPIRG will be hosting five more free toxic screening events over the busy shopping weekend, and into next week.  The group also released it’s annual toy safety report highlighting safe shopping tips and potential hazards on store shelves.

“Choking on small parts is a leading cause of toy-related injury, causing fifteen deaths in the last three years,” said AKPIRG’s Matt Wallace. “We are concerned that the 30-year-old small parts standard is not protective enough. Children can and have choked on parts that are larger than the standard,” he explained.

AKPIRG noted that progress has been made on toy safety in the past two years thanks to a 2008 PIRG-backed law overhauling the Consumer Product Safety Comission, as well as new leadership at the agency.

“The CPSC is doing a good job under its expanded authority, but that authority does not extend far enough when it comes to toxic chemicals,” said Wallace. “We urge Congress and the Obama Administration to reform chemicals policy to address the tens of thousands of chemicals that are in the products our children come in contact with every day.”

For 24 years, the AKPIRG Trouble in Toyland report has offered safety guidelines for purchasing toys for small children and provides examples of toys currently on store shelves that pose potential safety hazards. The group also provides an interactive website with tips for safe toy shopping that consumers can access on their smartphones at www.toysafety.mobi.

Key findings from the report include:

In 2009, many toys and other children’s products containing more than 0.1% of phthalates were banned. Still, AKPIRG found children’s products that contained concentrations of phthalates up 30%.

Despite a ban on small parts in toys for children under three, there are still toys available that pose serious choking hazards. In the past three years, 15 children have died after choking or asphyxiating on a toy or toy part; two died in 2009 alone.

Lead and other metals have been severely restricted in toys in the past two years, but AKPIRG researchers found toys containing toxic lead and antimony on store shelves. Lead has negative health effects on almost every organ and system in the human body, and antimony is classified as a human carcinogen. Laboratory testing revealed one preschool book with antimony far above the limits and AKPIRG has notified the CPSC.

According to the most recent data from the CPSC, toy-related injuries sent more than 250,000 children – 90,000 under the age of five – to emergency rooms in 2009. Twelve children died from toy-related injuries that year.

To download a pdf version of Trouble in Toyland, click here.

Details on Toxic Toy Screening Events:
The public may bring in up to 20 toys and household items for free.  AKPIRG representatives will screen the devices using an X-Ray Fluorescence scanner.  This is state of the art technology that resembles a bar code scanner found at a grocery store, and can very quickly screen items for a variety of substances.  Among the metals tested are lead, cadmium, and mercury.   The public is invited to attend these events:

FRIDAY, NOV. 26th
Arctic Playgroundz
2807 Arctic Blvd
11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

SATURDAY, NOV 27th
University Center Mall
11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
3801 Old Seward Highway

SUNDAY, NOV. 28
Abbott Loop Community Church
12:00 pm to 3:00 pm
2626 Abbott Road

Bouncin’ Bears
4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
901 E Dimond Blvd

MONDAY, NOV. 29th
Anchorage Montessori School
3:15 pm to 5:30 pm
5001 Northwood Drive

TUESDAY, NOV 30th
Mountain View Public Library
3:00 pm to 6:00 pm
120 Bragaw St.

View Larger Map

SATURDAY, NOV 27 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
University Center Mall
3801 Old Seward Highway

View Larger Map

SUNDAY, NOV. 28 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Abbott Loop Community Church
2626 Abbott Road

View Larger Map

SUNDAY, NOV. 28 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Bouncin’ Bears
901 E Dimond Blvd

View Larger Map

MONDAY, NOV. 29 3:15 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Anchorage Montessori School
5001 Northwood Drive

View Larger Map

TUESDAY, NOV 30 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Mountain View Public Library
120 Bragaw St.

View Larger Map

Unfortunately, the Senate yesterday failed to pass the DISCLOSE Act, which would have helped citizens learn who’s behind those groups filling our airwaves with attack ads– groups with names like ‘Americans for Truth and Justice’ or some other such nonsense. We’ve already seen some of the benefits of campaign ad disclosure for state level races here in AK, after we led the nation in responding to Citizens United with SB 284. It’s a crime that the Senate could not muster the votes yesterday to ensure that citizens know who’s paying to influence their decisions. The electorate is at a disadvantage this November because of it, especially here in Alaska where so much spending on for the US Senate and House races comes from outside.

Read more about it here.

We need good alternatives to natural gas

By STEVE CLEARY

The era of cheap and plentiful gas in Southcentral Alaska is over. There is more gas in Cook Inlet, as Petrochemical Resources of Alaska noted in their March 2010 report, but it will cost an estimated $1.9 billion to $2.8 billion to recover it. The report also states what should be obvious to us consumers in the region: “In the future, Cook Inlet utility customers should expect to pay more for the gas used by Cook Inlet Utilities to generate heat and electricity.”

Enstar’s parent company SEMCO is proposing a gas storage facility in Kenai at a cost of nearly $200 million. That’s just to store gas for a rainy day, or, more accurately, a freezing day of peak demand.

There’s also natural gas from the North Slope that may be available in as few as 10 years. With project costs for that pipeline estimated to be as high as $41 billion, North Slope gas may be plentiful but it isn’t likely to be cheap. According to a state report to the Legislature, the bullet line would have to charge between $7 and $14-plus per thousand cubic feet of gas to recover its costs — just for shipping the gas. That’s double what Southcentral customers currently pay for delivered gas.

Ninety percent of the Railbelt’s electricity comes from natural gas. That’s a lot of eggs in one basket and any way you slice it, those eggs are sure to get more expensive.

The most stably priced and cheapest power currently on the grid comes from the Bradley Lake hydro facility near Homer. But what is now praised as a great idea and a sound investment was derided back in 1990 when it was being built. Bradley Lake was too expensive, critics claimed: Cheap natural gas is all we need. Power from Bradley Lake has remained constant over the years, while the price of natural gas continues to rise.

In January 2009, former Gov. Sarah Palin announced her intention to get Alaska to 50 percent renewable energy by 2025. The Legislature followed up on that recommendation by passing HB 306 in the last legislative session. With half of that goal met by hydro power, Alaska needs to continue to diversify its electricity mix to reap the many rewards of renewable energy production.Fire Island is poised to produce more than 50 megawatts of power right off Anchorage’s shores. That’s enough to power 18,000 Alaska homes. In fact, it will save nearly 1.5 billion cubic feet (BCF) of natural gas annually.

With no fuel costs, the price for the power is stable over the long term. In addition, Fire Island can qualify for nearly $50 million in federal stimulus money. Alaska has not taken advantage of this program. Nearly $5 billion has been awarded to both create jobs and put our nation on a more sustainable energy footing. Alaska can and should have a share of those jobs and benefits.

There are significant technical issues for the Southcentral utilities to overcome, but they are not insurmountable. The rest of the country is embracing wind and other renewables. We need to learn from their example and take advantage of the technical knowledge that is continuing to be honed.

The state of Alaska has appropriated $25 million to connect Fire Island to the existing grid. The stars are aligning for Fire Island to become the first large-scale wind development in Alaska. With successful wind generation from Kodiak to Kotzebue, Alaska is poised to take this next exciting step.

The Cook Inlet gas shortage is quickly becoming like the weather — everyone is talking about it, but no one is doing anything about it. It’s time to start doing something and Fire Island is a great start. Fire Island alone won’t solve Southcentral’s energy problems, but as the biggest commercial wind development in Alaska, it is a first step toward a more balanced energy future.

Steve Cleary is the renewable energy advocate for AkPIRG, the Alaska Public Interest Research Group.

Background: The Alaska Public Interest Research Group (AKPIRG) seeks a qualified, motivated, and committed individual to serve as AKPIRG’s Ratepayer Coordinator. AKPIRG’s mission is to stand up for the public interest, especially when inconsistent with powerful, monied interests. As a part of our work, we focus on renewable energy and energy efficiency as cornerstone issues to ensure a healthy, economically viable, and sustainable future for Alaska. With a focus on these values, and on consumer protection, we work with groups of electric utility customers (ratepayers) who work to negotiate with their utilities policies and actions that will move us towards an efficient, cost effective, and clean energy future and ensure good governance and public participation in the way Alaska’s electric utilities are managed.

Position Description: The Ratepayer Coordinator will work full time on electric utility issues in Alaska. Much of the coordinator’s efforts will be focused on developing the ratepayer movement in Alaska and uniting these groups from a consumer/economic perspective. The ratepayer coordinator will continue to nurture the ratepayer groups, engaging them year round with the goal of providing the resources needed to elevate ratepayers into spokespeople that can advocate clean energy and energy efficiency solutions from an economic standpoint. The coordinator will also be responsible for creating and promoting opportunities for these groups to learn from each other’s campaign successes and failures, sharing effective campaign planning tools, poignant messaging on renewable and energy efficiency issues, and resources to bolster their campaign efforts.

Job Duties:
-Coordinate with the AKPIRG Executive Director to create and implement a priority campaign plan;
-Recruit and train volunteers from the different electric utility service areas in the state to be effective advocates for consumer protection, and renewable energy and efficiency;
-Provide training and support for utility board candidates who share our commitment to renewable energy and efficiency;
-Coordinate and facilitate regional and statewide meetings for ratepayer groups to share resources, knowledge, and strategy;
-Coordinate legal, technical, communications, political and grassroots organizing strategies to ratepayer groups statewide;
-Provide strategic campaign advice to coalition partners;
-Professionally and competently represent AKPIRG in public forums;
-Other duties as assigned by the Executive Director.

Qualifications:
-Minimum 2-5 years working on grassroots organizing and/or advocacy;
-Experience working on renewable energy and/or consumer protection issues highly preferred;
-Exceptional organizing and leadership skills;
-Ability to build relationships with a broad range of stakeholders and coalition partners; knowledge of the range of legal and policy issues surrounding electrical energy production;
-Ability to successfully manage and coordinate campaigns across and within multiple issue areas within the realm of renewable energy and energy efficiency.

The location for this position is in Anchorage, Alaska.

Compensation: Salary is $40,000-55,000 DOE, plus health care stipend.

To Apply: AKPIRG is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Please provide a cover letter outlining your interest and experience, plus a resume. Applicants selected to receive an interview will be asked to submit three references.

Submissions must be emailed to matt at akpirg dot org with ‘Ratepayer Coordinator Position’ typed the subject heading. We will confirm receipt of your submission by email.

Hire Date: Position open until filled. Applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.