It’s an 11 News Defenders investigation that is causing nationwide recalls of thousands of toys and making headlines across America.

11 News wanted to help you find out how often your children are exposed to toxic lead in toys.  

We enlisted the help of national experts, medical experts, and others to help you know what toys to trust, what to buy, and maybe -- what to throw away.

Max Stenger has her hands -- and her heart -- full with twins Sandy and Emily Ann.

“You know, I worry. Everything is in their mouth, and their brain is growing rapidly at this stage," Stenger said.

So like a lot of parents, she doesn’t need another toy recall. Ask a doctor, and the news isn’t good either.

“There is no safe level of level of lead,” said Dr. Lynette Mazur, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. “None. Zero. It is the invisible poison.”

“It is a neurotoxin. It affects your brain,” said Mazur who also is a member of the Committee on Environmental Health for the American Academy of Pediatrics.  

“How many points of IQ are you willing to take away from your children?” Dr. Mazur asked.

“It’s alarming to hear and you wonder, is it in my house?” Stenger said.

These days a lot of parents are wondering the same thing: When you go shopping, how likely are you to buy a plaything you and your child could end up regretting?  The 11 News Defenders took a look at lead in children’s toys by going on a spending spree around Houston. We visited well-known major retailers, mid-level stores and specialized toy shops. More than 100 toys were purchased that would be used by children between the ages of 3 and 7.

The toys were tested with something called X-ray fluorescence or XRF technology. It’s widely used for detecting lead. The Defenders went to work with expert Raymond Lindeen at the helm. He teaches companies and governmental agencies how to use the expensive devices.

The testing took hours. 11 News checked the results by doing a second test using another gun.

The result? We discovered nine toys a parent might worry about. All nine were made in China.

First up from Wal-Mart: A 12-piece dinosaur set. One federal law limits lead in the paint on children’s’ toys at 600 parts per million, but in the total substance of one dinosaur, we found more than 7,000 ppm.

“This is a toy that should definitely not be on the shelf,” Lindeen said.

At KB Toys, we purchased the Dinosaur Family Collection.  Inside: One lizard with more than 5,000 ppm lead and another having an even higher amount.

Next, the 99-Cent Only store is where toys three and four were purchased: Racing Super Sports cars and a PBR Rob Smets & Hammer play set. We found more than 5,000 ppm of lead on one car and a 1,000 on another. The play set?  A painted piece had 1,000 ppm of lead.

Toy No. 5 was a surprise in testing: Purchased from Target, a Thomas the Train Engine music toothbrush.

“You would think something that’s going to be put in their mouth they certainly wouldn’t have anything on there,” Lindeen said.

And yet, lead was still detected.  We took it apart and found electronics inside.  

“We see very quickly there is lead,” Lindeen said. In fact, more than 3,000 ppm in lead. 

“Anything that goes in a kid’s mouth, I wouldn’t want something inside to have lead in it,” Lindeen said.

And in our remaining toys? Nos. 6 and 7 came from Toys ‘R Us: The Elite Operations Barracuda Copter and the 8-inch Combatant Squad with pieces containing 5,000 and 6,000 ppm in lead.  Buy No. 8 – a Curious George fireman. His kissable face? It contains more than 7,000 ppm of lead. Toy No. 9 we found at Target: A yellow Go, Diego, Go! Backpack with a wallet and even a shoulder strap that both read more than 4,000 ppm of lead.

Rachel Weintraub is the Consumer Federation of America’s director of product safety and senior counsel.    She said when it comes to lead in toys, our testing “illustrates how pervasive these problems are.”

11 News asked: “Do these toys need to be pulled off the shelves?”

Weintraub replied: “Yeah, those toys should definitely be recalled. There’s no reason children should have lead in their toy boxes.”

11 News shared its findings with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

“We will be happy to look at any information we receive that helps us to identify a hazard with a product,” said spokesperson Patty Davis of the CPSC.

11 News:  “Is it potentially a sign that there’s a lot more work that still needs to be done?”

CPSC: “I can tell you there will be more recalls from products that contain lead.”

11 News had already discovered more recalls were forthcoming, even before contacting the CPSC. 

Just one day after The Defenders contacted Wal-Mart about the 12-piece Dinosaur Kit, the retailer issued a nationwide voluntary nationwide withdrawal of the item and pulled it from the shelves. K-B Toys stopped further shipments of the separate dinosaur set we bought there.

Those race cars and play set? The 99 Cent Only store issued a national stop sale of the race cars and the play set, pending further testing.

And remember the Thomas the Train music toothbrush where we found lead inside?

Barnabus Chen, owner of the manufacturer Worldtrend, said he would take the lead out of the electronics inside the toothbrush. He offered to replace the lead components with lead-free materials that are widely available.

Chen told us despite believing the lead poses no risk inside the toothbrush, he said, “I’m willing to go the extra mile for the safety of the kids.”

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08057.html

Toys ‘R Us tested the Elite Operations war toys and confirmed KHOU-TV’s findings.  It forwarded its own test results to the CPSC and just Wednesday, announced a nationwide recall of multiple toys from the Elite Operations line.

Toys R ‘Us  also pulled the Curious George Fireman from its shelves. We also contacted the manufacturer of the Curious George product, the Marvel Company, prompting them to issue a nationwide stop sale of the doll and other similar Curious George products made by Marvel.

Finally, the Go, Diego, Go! Backpack: The Target stores sold it to the 11 News Defenders, but the company said it cannot comment on our test results. A spokesperson did say the company requires vendors to meet and comply with all applicable laws regarding product safety. Likewise, manufacturer Global Designs said the backpack was tested using an independent laboratory that determined it complies with federal safety regulations. It also said the XRF technology we used is just a screening tool and subject to “great variation and interference.”

Finally, the manufacturer says any story implying the backpack is hazardous to children is "false."

Another reaction to our investigation:  X-Concepts, the manufacturer of the PBR Rob Smets and Hammer playset we found at the 99 Cent Only Store,  says an independent lab test confirmed lead in the toy was just above 200 parts per million, well below our finding of 1,000 parts per million.

Finally, the lead readings we found can be due to lead in paint or lead in the plastic the toy is made of. And there is some controversy about whether the federal government has a standard -- or, some say, a "good" standard -- for lead in plastic.