US recalls Chinese-made toys, jewelry amid lead fears
Channel News Asia, Singapore
WASHINGTON : Two US toy companies on Wednesday recalled more than 300,000 Chinese-made toys, saying they contain potentially dangerous levels of lead.
Two other companies also recalled nearly 22,000 pieces of children’s jewelry, saying they, too, contained excessive levels of lead.
The alerts come eight days after a massive global recall by US toy giant Mattel Inc., of 18 million toys that were made in China.
Prior to Wednesday’s recalls, there had been four recalls of toys imported to the US from China.
The latest recall included 250,000 Sponge Bob spiral address books and journals, 66,000 spinning tops, including some from the popular Thomas the Tank Engine series, and 4,700 pails, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission said in separate statements issued jointly with the two companies concerned.
The paint on the metal spiral bindings of the address books and journals, and on the metal handles of the tops and pails, “contain excessive levels of lead,” the US importers of the toys, Martin Designs of Ohio and Schylling Associates of Massachusetts, said.
The Schylling company had earlier this month recalled 24,000 Chinese-made “Thomas Friends” spinning tops, warning that they were painted with lead-based paint.
Some 7,900 children’s “Divine Inspiration” charm bracelets and 14,000 “Toby and Me” jewelry sets, including necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings and pendants, were also recalled Wednesday because of high lead levels, the importers of those products said.
Lead poisoning can cause learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and, at very high levels, seizures, coma, and even death.
– AFP/ir
