Hundreds of toys that have been recalled because they're contaminated with lead paint are showing up for sale on the internet, the Consumers' Association of Canada says.
 
And with many parents looking to shop online for the holidays, the association is warning parents to be cautious before purchasing anything.
 
The toys, which were manufactured in China with lead paint, include everything from the highly popular Thomas the Tank Engine to Barbie accessories to Geo-Trax.

The latest warning comes after Health Canada urged consumers earlier this year not to buy the toys at stores.

Fisher-Price recalled thousands of Geo Trax Locomotive toys in September due to violations of lead paint standards.
(U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission )

But Bruce Cran of the consumers' association said it appears some people who bought the toys are now reselling them on popular websites.

"It's increasing each week and there's hundreds of them, if not thousands of items of these type for sale on Craigslist and eBay," Cran said on Friday in Vancouver. "There's no return policy with those sites and you could end up with toys with lead."

Cran said Health Canada should be doing more to protect consumers.
 
"Health Canada should be actively seeking some remedy to this. Records should be kept and there should be a followup to make sure these toys come off the shelves so that they're not recirculated for sale," he said.

"None of these recalls have been initiated by any Canadian agency. They're actually voluntary recalls.

"There's no supervision for what actually happens to that stuff after it goes back, and these are the goods that are now available on the internet, and we're very concerned about that aspect of it," Cran added.

Health Canada could not be reached for comment, but the government department's website lists the toys that have been recalled.