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Dec. 7, 2009 - Zhu Zhu Pets, one of the hottest-selling toys this holiday season, are contaminated with unsafe levels of antimony, says GoodGuide, a new consumer group.
That's just not so, says Cepia LLC, the company that makes Mr. Squiggles and other Zhu Zhu Pets. To prove it, Cepia released premarketing test results from a highly respected independent lab.
Contrary to the GoodGuide tests, the report from Bureau Veritas labs shows that none of the Zhu Zhu Pets caries unsafe levels of antimony or any other contaminant.
In a news release, GoodGuide said the "higher-than-allowed presence" of antimony on the toys "can lead to cancer, lung and heart problems, and impacts on fertility."
Because of the GoodGuide complaint, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) says it will investigate the toy. CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson tells WebMD that the CPSC takes the GoodGuide allegation seriously, but that the investigation does not mean the toy should be considered unsafe.
"CPSC is looking into the Zhu Zhu pet toy and we will complete our review swiftly," the CPSC says in an official statement.
Meanwhile, Cepia is vigorously defending the safety of Zhu Zhu Pets. No recall is planned.
"Mr. Squiggles is absolutely safe and has passed the most rigorous testing in the toy industry to consumer heath and safety," Cepia says in a news release.
GoodGuide, started in September 2008, is a consumer group led by Dara J. O'Rourke, PhD, assistant professor of environmental science at the University of California, Berkeley. The group issues ratings of toys and other products based on product ingredients, screening for contaminants, and manufacturers' social policies.
GoodGuide tests for contaminants using a handheld device called an X-ray fluorescence gun. The test can detect antimony but cannot accurately measure toxic levels of the metal. That requires a different test, called a solubility test.
"We did not test these toys using the new government standard for toy companies to determine the 'soluble' level of contaminants in a toy," O'Rourke admits in a blog entry posted today on the GoodGuide web site.
Antimony is a silvery white metal element, usually mixed with other metals for use in batteries, solder, sheet and pipe metal, ammunition, and pewter. Antimony can harm health in concentrations greater than 60 parts per million.