ALBANY COUNTY — The Albany County Legislature voted, 34 to 4, on Monday to ban toys with seven known toxic chemicals from stores in the county.

Daniel McCoy, the county executive, will set a public hearing before he decides if he will sign the bill into law. Among other concerns, he wants to look at the costs for identifying the outlawed chemicals, said a spokeswoman.

“It really is a safety issue for kids,” said Guilderland Legislator Bryan Clenahan, who introduced the measure based on a report by Clean and Healthy New York, a not-for-profit environmental group.

“We were really thrilled to see the strong bipartisan support for it,” said Bobbi Wilding, the deputy director and co-founder of Clean and Healthy New York, and author of the report on toxic toys. Wilding holds a master of science degree in ecological economics, values, and policy from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and an undergraduate degree in environmental science.

The report, which Wilding described as not being “systematic” because the number of toys tested was not recorded, stated that many toys tested on Albany County store shelves did not contain toxic chemicals; some did. Clean and Healthy New York used an X-Ray Fluorescence Analyzer, or an XRF Analyzer, to examine toys, according to the report.  XRF devices are portable and can detect levels of chemicals on the surface of objects, the report stated.

Antimony, arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, lead, benzene, and mercury will be banned from new toys for sale if McCoy does not veto the measure in the next 30 days. According to Mary Rozak, spokeswoman for the Albany County Executive's Office, McCoy is reviewing the legislation and will set up a public hearing before deciding, she said Wednesday.

According to the measure, the county Department of Health is slated to enforce the new law.

“We think this is something they should be able to do with current resources,” Clenahan told The Enterprise. “The department of health has an XRF gun.” Clenahan said that a user points the equipment at a toy and the XRF gives a readout of which toxic chemicals are present.

“They already have the equipment” and the department of health can enforce the new law “effectively within the resources they have now,” Clenahan said.

“We do not have the equipment necessary, based on a preliminary look at the legislation,” Rozak told The Enterprise. “We do have an XRF machine — a lead analyzer for paint. That’s all it tests for,” she said. The county executive will consider costs for identifying all the chemicals that are listed in the legislation, she said.

“There will be a lot of citizen enforcement on this,” Clenahan said, noting that parents who find or suspect toxic toys on store shelves can report locations to the health department.

Asked if the health department has enough personnel to handle calls or emails with tips on toxic toys, Rozak said, “Personnel has yet to be examined.”

The bill would affect only sales of new toys, and not those sold in second-hand stores or at garage sales or those given freely.

Asked if the bill benefits higher-income children over those with lower incomes, Clenahan said, “I don’t think so. We are trying to deal mainly with retailers. The real environmental justice issue here is that…[toxic] toys that tend to find their way into lower-income-area stores will now be banned from the county.”

Rozak said that, should the signed bill go into effect, the county has a one-year period, once the state receives the bill, to work out how the law will be enforced.

“I’m very hopeful that it’s going to go through,” Clenahan said. “In this season of giving, it’s a hard argument to make that kids should be receiving seven toxic chemicals. I would be very surprised and disappointed if [McCoy] doesn’t sign this into law. The bottom line is that we really want to give parents peace of mind when shopping in Albany County. Parents can’t be expected to run a lab test on every toy they buy their kids.”

Similar legislation has stalled at the state and federal levels.

Wilding said that Albany County was the first county to receive a toxic toys report, and that Westchester County received one this week. More throughout the state are expected soon, she said.

Clenahan hopes that the law will have “a real deterrent effect,” he said. Just knowing that the law is in place will keep store owners from selling toxic toys, he said.

“Retailers can go to vendors and ask them to certify that items are without the seven chemicals,” Clenahan said.