Wondering what happened to all the lead-tainted products that have been recalled recently?

One company that recalled 350,000 lead-tainted journals and bookmarks plans to burn them in an incinerator. In the meantime, it is storing the hazardous parts in 55-gallon drums near its headquarters.

Toy makers are investigating whether they need to treat their tainted products with stabilization chemicals or if they must seal the toys in giant polyethylene bags. Mattel has decided to recycle some of its recalled toys into items like park benches  after it fights pending litigation. In China, meanwhile, several of Mattel’s recalled toys can still be found on store shelves.

A few toys have even shown up on eBay and on Web sites that sell products in bulk. And some children’s jewelry, heavily laden with lead, may be legally shipped to other countries for resale.

But that’s only counting what is actually returned. Most of the unsafe toys and other products, it turns out, may still be in the hands of consumers.