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In recent weeks, Canadian consumers have had their eyes opened - or at least half-opened - to the dangers of lead as a result of a massive recall of toys manufactured in China.

The revelation that Thomas the Tank Engine, Dora the Explorer, Barbie and a host of other popular children's toys were made using lead-based paints finally pushed the issue to the top of the news.

Ah, what price vanity. Lead, a heavy metal, improves the lustre and durability of paint, making toys look all shiny and new. But lead is also neurotoxic: It poses a real danger to developing brains and nervous systems, and even non-toxic levels of exposure can take several points off a child's IQ.

China has now banned the use of lead paint in toys manufactured for export. But consumers would be wrong to assume the problem has been resolved.

It is easy to point an accusatory finger at China, but entrepreneurs there are merely following in the poisoning footsteps of their Western counterparts. Thirty years ago, lead was ubiquitous in Canada. It was used as an additive in gasoline, as solder in canned goods, in paints, water pipes, cast-iron tubs, car batteries, fishing lures and sinkers, and even soothers and crayons (but not pencils, which are actually made with graphite, not lead).

Today, almost all those uses have been phased out, at least domestically.

But a troubling legacy remains. The lead that belched out of industrial smokestacks, poured into rivers from drain pipes and leached into drinking water, food, soil and homes did not magically disappear when we awoke to its dangers in the 1970s.

Lead is virtually indestructible. It has a half-life of 25 years in human bones, meaning it takes that much time to purge half the accumulation.

Practically, that means that everyone over the age of 45 has significant quantities of lead in their body. There is evidence that lead accelerates and worsens many of the health conditions associated with aging, namely osteoporosis, hypertension, diabetes, cataracts and dementia. Lead is particularly bad for the brain, and may hasten the onset of Alzheimer's disease and other neurological conditions.

Lead has done untold damage to baby boomers. How then can we allow these tragedies - and in many cases travesties of manufacturing - to affect our children and grandchildren, too?

Have we learned nothing?

The current alarm over lead-based paint is entirely appropriate. But why did it take so long to act decisively on lead-laced imports?

Recalls of toys, trinkets and cheap jewellery because of lead content have been frighteningly commonplace for years. In 2004, an American toddler died after swallowing a heart-shaped charm made with lead, a trinket that was available in virtually every dollar store in the country.

So where were the regulators? Why did Health Canada content itself with issuing the occasional bland release - poorly publicized to boot - after manufacturers agreed voluntarily to withdraw harmful products from the market?

Why did the government officials responsible for the safety of consumers not spot the trend and take decisive action?

While lead-laden Thomas the Tank Engines choo-chooed around children's bedrooms, Health Canada was asleep at the switch.

Of course, there are excuses for inaction - aren't there always in bureaucracy? The Hazardous Products Act is a dated, toothless bit of legislation.

But even this sorry excuse for consumer protection legislation does not excuse years of importation of hazardous products with impunity.

The failure to protect the health and well-being of citizens stretches well beyond the bureaucracy to Parliament.

Thankfully, federal Health Minister Tony Clement has promised sweeping changes to the regulatory system. He said officials at Health Canada are reviewing all legislation, regulations and standards to ensure that measures are in place to guarantee all consumer goods sold in Canada, including imports, are safe.

The minister said the "far-reaching" review will look at legislation related to all manner of consumer goods from toys to cars, and include food and herbal medicines.

"We are working to modernize our regulatory system to ensure we protect Canadians to the best degree possible," Mr. Clement said in a recent speech in Vancouver.

Let's hope this is not mere pre-electoral puffery.

Our elected lawmakers and their mandarins have, for far too long, failed in their ethical, moral and legal duties to protect the health of Canadians by properly regulating the safety of consumer goods.

It's time for them to get the lead out and act.