To the Editor:

Re ''Bid to Root Out Lead Trinkets Falters in U.S.'' (front page, Aug. 6):

Scott Wolfson, a spokesman for the consumer safety commission, simply is not credible when he said, ''We want to get to a point of not having to do recall after recall, and simply make the marketplace safe,'' about lead-contaminated children's jewelry.

In fact, over two years ago Consumer Product Safety Commission published an ''Interim Enforcement Policy for Children's Metal Jewelry Containing Lead'' that failed to comprehensively address the problem of lead poisoning from children's jewelry. As our organization noted at that time, the agency's flawed policy established no new legal requirements for content and testing of lead in children's jewelry.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission policy re-emphasizes the agency's case-by-case approach, which relies solely on the threat of post-market recalls for enforcement. By contrast, our California lawsuit against nearly 100 companies set the first legal standard in the nation for testing and marketing of lead-safe children's jewelry.

By neglecting to create and enforce such standards, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has ensured that children will remain at risk from lead poisoning from jewelry.

Charles Margulis
Communications Director
Center for Environmental Health
Oakland, Calif., Aug. 6, 2007