Today's Parent gets the lead out

Today's Parent magazine's annual list of the best toys guarantees parents that they are 100% lead free. It's an interesting example of how a magazine maintains a critically high level of trust with its readers.

According to a story in the Toronto Star, all toys in the Top Toys Guide were tested for lead content at McMaster University Occupational and Environmental Health Laboratory in Hamilton. Companies had been asked to submit their own independent testing results for lead content in their toys, but there was too much variation, including "reports from overseas labs we'd never heard of," said contributing editor Marcia MacQuarrie.

Some toys that showed minute traces, or safe amounts of lead, did not make the magazine's main list but are still rated as quality toys on the magazine's website.

To create the list, she sends out a blanket call for toys, which are then distributed to about 75 "test families" in spring. Three weeks later the families send in a report that ideally captures the initial enthusiastic response to the product, MacQuarrie said.

They send a second report two months later, to make sure that thrill doesn't wear off too quickly.