Curious George toys to be tested

WASHINGTON -- Marvel Entertainment Group halted shipments of its Chinese-made Curious George products and may recall the toys if emergency testing shows unsafe levels of lead in them, the company said Wednesday.

Marvel said it was taking the action after the advocacy group Center for Environmental Health said it found a Curious George doll containing 10 times the legally-allowed lead level.

"We have already reached out to the Center for Environmental Health for their help in identifying the product they tested and the full details of their testing," Marvel said.

"In the meantime, we have halted all shipments of our Curious George product line and are pulling various samples from the factory for rush lead testing."

Lead is toxic and poses serious health risks, including brain damage, to children when ingested.

The nonprofit center said it also found high levels of lead in vinyl lunch boxes and backpacks made by privately-owned Sassafras Enterprises of Chicago. The group filed a legal notice accusing Sassafras of violating a 1986 California law that prohibits exposing consumers to carcinogens without warning.

Sassafras said it halted shipments of lunch boxes and backpacks cited by the advocacy group.

"Our own tests done by an independent laboratory contradict what the Center for Environmental Health's tests show. We need to figure out exactly what this means and until then we've stopped all shipments of the products to protect consumers," a Sassafras spokeswoman said.