It's about time! Funny how I've been reporting about lead in children's jewelry for years, and it just seemed to go and on. Now, with all the toy problems related to lead paint, it seems more legislatures have woken up to the fact that this issue with lead, toys, and children's jewelry is pretty darn serious.

From California legislator pushes federal ban on lead in kids' products:

A Bay Area legislator who is already sponsoring a "toxic toy" bill in the state Legislature told a federal agency Thursday that if it doesn't step up and ban lead in children's products by the end of the year, she will introduce a measure to protect Californians in January.

Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, sent a letter to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the agency responsible for regulating harmful chemicals in consumer products, demanding a speedy prohibition of toxic lead in products used by children, the most vulnerable of the population.

Ma said she would seek a law similar to one in Illinois, which is the only state to have restrictions on lead in children's toys tougher than the regulations of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The measure prohibits the sale of any product intended for children that contains lead, whether it's in paint, metal, vinyl or something else. In May, the state recalled some bibs found to contain lead in the vinyl.

Lead is toxic to the brain and the entire neurological system, and can impair cognitive and physical development even at low levels, scientists say.

Critics of the Consumer Product Safety Commission have accused the agency of not having rules strict enough to protect the public and not enforcing the ones it has.

On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the agency, Maryanne McGerty-Sieber, in response to a huge recall by Mattel of toys containing high levels of lead, erroneously said the agency was preparing a rule to ban the toxic metal in all children's products. On Thursday, Julie Vallese, director of information and public affairs at the Consumer Product Safety Commission, said McGerty-Sieber "misspoke." The rule-making under way applies not to all children's products, but would only restrict lead in children's jewelry, Vallese said.