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News reports are indicating that some Chinese manufacturers prohibited from producing children’s toys with unhealthy levels of lead have turned to an even more dangerous heavy metal as the base for the toys and costume jewelry they export.

Cadmium, a cheap, easy to use, naturally-occurring metal that is known to hinder proper brain development in children, is now showing up in a variety of products around the country. Predictably, the news is creating uproar among government officials, retailers, and parents.

Last week, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) announced his intention to introduce the Safe Kids Jewelry Act next month, which would seek to ban cadmium, antimony, and barium in jewelry intended for children 12 years of age or younger. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-AR, a longtime proponent of tougher product safety rules for children, echoed the popular sentiment when he said that, “Parents will be outraged to learn certain jewelry makers overseas thought they could pull a fast one at the expense of our kids’ safety.” Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairman Inez Tenenbaum has also chimed in with a broader warning that parents should "not allow young children to be given or play with cheap metal jewelry."

Not long after the initial Associated Press report, retailers took action. Walmart announced that it would begin pulling jewelry with high levels of cadmium from its shelves. All the while, concerned parents have been frantically trying to rid their homes of any product containing the dangerous metal.

Obviously, responsible manufacturers and retailers must address the cadmium issue immediately with recalls if necessary, and messages that reassure consumers – even if their products haven’t been found to contain cadmium.

What this episode also demonstrates, however, is that real supply chain vigilance is now an absolute necessity in the consumer-product sector. Manufacturers and retailers must not only be testing for known risks in their products, but anticipate that aggressive suppliers around the world will constantly be looking to use cheaper materials, even if they might be unsafe.

The fact that this cadmium controversy has arisen so soon after 2007’s crisis over melamine in pet food and lead paint in toys has to make consumers wonder what’s coming next – and what brand-name manufacturers and retailers are doing to protect them from whatever it may be.

Gene Grabowski is the Senior Vice President of Crisis and Litigation at Levick Strategic Communications, the nation’s top crisis communications firm, and a contributing author to Bulletproof Blog. Connect with him @crisisguru.