Washington governor says toy law unclear

SEATTLE, March 27 (UPI) -- Washington state Gov. Chris Gregoire said she was unsure whether she would sign a popular toy safety bill because of its imprecise language.

The law, which would reduce amounts of lead, cadmium and phthalates -- agents that give flexibility to plastics -- in toys, would be the strictest toy safety law in the country, Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Thursday.

Toy makers are concerned the law does not exempt lead solder, which is in many electronic devices, including computers.

Nick Federici of the environmental group Washington Toxics Coalition met with the governor to allay her concerns. "We think that the exemption for consumer electronics in the bill deals with that and exempts the chips -- not the toys that contain the chips," he said.

The governor said she did "not know yet," whether she would sign the bill.

David Wahl, spokesman for the novelty shop Archie McPhee, said the bill was "ill-defined."

"It doesn't really define very clearly what a toy is or what a child is," Wahl said.