The front page of this week's Sunday San Francisco Chronicle featured a graphic reading TOXIC! spelled out in large letters constructed out of infant toys and baby bottles. Stopped me right in my tracks on my morning walk with the kiddo.

The story is about a series of tests that the Chronicle ran on a sample of baby goods to detect the presence of toxic chemicals that are commonly used in the production of plastics. The results, needless to say, are disturbing, especially for parents with babies in the "how does this taste?" stage. Of course, as a parent, you're moving the obvious threats out of reach--the knife block, the Drano, all photographs of Dick Cheney. But you never think you need to confiscate the rubber ducky or the teething ring because 60 years from now it could prove to be the source of your child's cancer.

Thank you, Chronicle, for starting out my Sunday on such a happy note!

But, seriously, thank you. Perhaps your report will one day make quotes like this a thing of the past:

"Protections for children from chemicals in toys are weak at best and dysfunctional at worst,'' said Joel Tickner, a professor of environmental health at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. "Consumers would be astonished if they knew that federal laws regulating chemicals in children's toys all require balancing the benefits of protecting children with the costs to industry of implementing safer alternatives."