When Lead Lurks in Your Nursery

The risk from toxic toys is real, and so is the danger from other household sources of the heavy metal

R. Jerome Ferraro for TIME

Angelique and Robby LeDoux with their 22-month-old daughter, Jade, in their apartment in New York City on August 27, 2007.

Angelique and Robby Ledoux freaked when they found three recalled toys among their daughter's playthings. The New York City couple had already been through the pet-food recall with their cat last March, and they'd tossed out suspect tubes of imported toothpaste after a recall in June. This was worse. "At 22 months, Jade still sometimes sucks on her toys," says Angelique. So the LeDouxes sprang into action. Robby bought lead-testing kits the next day and screened every toy in the nursery. Angelique arranged for Jade to get a blood test for lead poisoning.

The toy recalls have triggered a wave of...

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