In a stunning display of responsibility, toy retailers Toys 'R Us and Wal-Mart are both creating strict new toy-safety standards that will affect every toy they sell. New standards will include third-party safety testing (as opposed to relying upon toy manufacturers to churn out toys meeting basic standards...we all know how well that went in the past) and a ban on phthalates. Yay!

Skeptical-me knows this new move is partly damage-control, since toy retailers took huge hits last year with massive wave after wave of recalls and a certain amount of resulting consumer panic/malaise, but any business would be stupid not to jump on a changing world anyhow and if it results in better and safer toys for our kids I'm not much concerned how it comes about.

The new standards will include a ban on phthalates by the end of 2008, way-stricter standards on lead on surface coatings, and a ban on nickel-cadmium batteries. And since Toys 'R Us is the U.S.' largest toy retailer, and Wal-Mart has eaten pretty much the entire world, smaller retailers will have little choice but to follow suit, creating pressure on manufacturers and resulting in safer toys everywhere.

No word on how the new standards will affect toy prices, but they are sure to rise somewhat to absorb the costs of testing. Sounds worth it to me, though.

Photo: www.thisisventure.co.uk