News item: 71 companies agree to stop poisoning children

We take our good news where we can find it these days, and this is very good news.
     For years, dozens of the nation’s top retailers have been selling inexpensive children’s jewelry with unsafe levels of lead -- often, frighteningly unsafe levels, leading to serious lead poisoning, nationwide health warnings, and product recalls.
     Now, after the Center for Environmental Health filed suit against them, 71 of these retailers have agreed to do (in California, and hopefully elsewhere) what they should’ve been doing all along. They’ve promised to reduce lead in children’s jewelry to trace levels, and to actually take responsibility for keeping it that way.
     Once the agreement kicks in, it’ll be comforting to know that you can buy a little girl a bracelet at Target, Kmart, Macy’s, Nordstroms, Claires, Mervyns, Sears, Toys R Us, or The Disney Store without poisoning her.
     Next time you hear about “tort reform” or “class action reform,” remember: sometimes, it takes a lawsuit.
     If this had been about one random psychotic caught poisoning Halloween candy, you’d have seen non-stop 24x7 coverage on Court TV, Nancy Grace, et al. But since it’s about 71 major American corporations, you have to read about it here.
     Oh, and by the way, one company has refused to sign on. Take a wild guess who that would be.