The recall of a popular children’s toy train set earlier this week spurred Maine’s chief health officer to issue a general warning to parents on Friday about the dangers of lead paint.

The most recent of at least a dozen toy recalls this year related to lead paint or other lead toxicity is the Thomas and Friends wooden railway toys based on the popular “Thomas the Tank Engine” television show.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with importer RC2 Corp. of Oak Brook, Ill., issued the recall on Wednesday because the bright-colored paints used on the surface of the toys contain lead.

“Unfortunately, this recall is the latest in a long list of toys and children’s jewelry recalled by CPSC for lead hazards,” Dr. Dora Anne Mills, head of the Maine Center for Disease Control, said in a prepared statement. Mills urged parents to become familiar with the dangers of exposure to lead paint and to check her agency’s Web site regularly for toy recalls and other information.

Lead, along with mercury and other heavy metals, is a potent toxin, especially for young children, whose bodies and brains are still developing. It bonds with the body’s red blood cells, displacing the oxygen needed for healthy growth and development.

Elevated lead levels in children’s blood are strongly associated with learning disabilities, behavioral problems, lowered intelligence, reduced physical coordination, attention deficits and other neurological disorders. At toxic levels, lead can cause stunted growth, mental retardation, severe brain damage, coma and death.

Children ingest lead from many sources. The most common is old paint, which is very often present in Maine’s aging houses, apartment buildings and community centers. Most household paints purchased today do not contain lead, but it was routinely added to make paints harder and shinier until 1978, when it was banned by the federal government. Lead still is added to some industrial and marine paints.

Toys are another leading source of lead exposure in children. At a State House news conference in 2004, Mills said new toys and furniture manufactured in India, Mexico and China are most likely to contain lead. A survey of her own home had revealed lead-contaminated toys and other items, including a fancy new toy firetruck, big enough to be pedaled by her then-toddler. Antique toys and furniture also are likely to be painted with lead-containing pigments, she said.

All Maine children are supposed to be screened by their doctors for exposure to lead at 1 and 2 years of age.

On Friday, Mills encouraged Maine parents and other caretakers to follow some simple steps in response to the latest toy recall.

. If the Thomas and Friends wooden railway toys are present in your home or day care center, take them away from children immediately. Photographs of the toys can be viewed online at the CPSC’s Web site, www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07212.html. Call the RC2 Corp. toll-free at (888) 725-4407 for free replacement toys.

. If you know your children have played with these toys, and if the children are less than 3 years old, contact their health care provider to ask about a lead screening test.

. If you are unsure whether the wooden train toys in your home are the ones affected by the recall, you can test them and other items in your home with an inexpensive lead-testing kit available at most hardware stores.

The Web site of the Maine Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program contains links to information and photographs of more than 70 recalled toys and other children’s products, including bibs, educational materials, jewelry, sidewalk chalk, cribs and clothing. Visit the state’s product recall site at www.maine.gov/dhhs/eohp/lead or call the Lead Poisoning Prevention Office at (866) 292-3474.