New York Governor Elliot Spitzer is using state law to enforce a mandatory recall of children's toys contaminated by lead paint. Mattel has been forced to recall about 20 million toys this month. However, due to the nature of the federal regulatory system for product safety, those recalls are voluntary.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report critiquing two EPA cost-benefit analyses on an oil spill prevention regulation. In 2002 and 2006, EPA amended the Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule which requires oil-storage facilities to prepare plans in the event of an oil leak or spill. Because the amendments to the rule could have a significant impact on the economy, the White House required EPA to prepare cost-benefit analyses of both sets of amendments.

Today's New York Times has an editorial on Chinese product safety that succinctly makes two great points: China needs a better regulatory system, and American needs to use its regulatory system to better monitor Chinese products.

Mattel, Inc. and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced recalls of 9.5 million Chinese toys today due either to magnets coming loose from the toys or excessive levels of lead-based paint, according to The Washington Post. The magnets can come out the toys and be swallowed by children causing potentially fatal problems. Mattel discovered the problems while investigating all its factories in China after an earlier recall of 1.5 million toys due to lead paint coatings. According to the Post story, Mattel had never recalled products for lead paint problems prior to this month.