HOUSTON -- Local 2 investigates hidden dangers in your children's' toy chests.

Last night, we showed you how dozens of toys have been recalled in the last two months. Most of the recalls are for lead paint violations, which has many parents wondering why can't potentially dangerous toys be stopped before they hit store shelves?

Local 2 investigative reporter Robert Arnold explains it's due to a lack of pre-market inspections.

"If they really want to make a lot of money, they should check the toys before they actually sell them," said fifth-grader Natalia Kian, who answers the question every parent has been asking this holiday season.

But if Kian can figure it out, why can't our government?

"It's just come to light, because there is no checks or anything on some of the imports that are coming in," U.S. Rep. Gene Green said.

Even though the U.S. has some of the toughest safety standards when it comes to toys, the Consumer Product Safety Commission does not have the authority to yank a toy off the market before it hits store shelves. By then, your children have it in their hands.

"I had a Curious George doll taken away from me because it was full of lead paint," Jithin Kurian said.

"We're waiting on Congress to give the agency some updated authority so that we can address issues that are in a today marketplace," said CPSC spokeswoman Julie Vallese.

Here's what's happening -- the vast majority of toys sold in the U.S. are made in China. This means it's up to the individual companies, not government inspectors, to make sure safety requirements are being met, which, as we've seen, is not always being done.

"There was a renewed effort by the CPSC as well as the industry to actually inspect the marketplace in a way that it hadn't been done in a number of years," Vallese said.

That answer explains the recent avalanche of toy recalls. But what about all that lead paint? Some foreign manufacturers use third-party suppliers for the paint and don't always check to make sure it's lead free.

"What we are now seeing is an end to the wink and a nod of suppliers," Vallese said.

Since our government doesn't have nearly enough inspectors to test all the toys hitting our ports, parents are taking matters into their own hands this holiday.

"We're actually going to be looking to make sure the toys aren't made from China," parent Heather Sasser said.

"It's actually very hard to find toys that are not made in China and it's a big concern for us," parent Shelly Boyle said.

"I'm going to do safe things, like puzzles, books, stuffed animals," parent Monique Holland said.

There have been several recent developments since all of these recalls.

China has agreed to pull the exporting license of any manufacturer not meeting U.S. standards, paint suppliers now have to certify their product is lead-free and the toy industry is developing a third-party independent system to test toys before they come to the United States.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is also now asking Congress for updated authority such as making it a crime to sell recalled toys and raising the amount of fines the government can impose on companies not meeting safety standards.