US CPSC recalls jewelry, school supplies for lead
Source: Reuters
(Adds Big Lots, Michaels Stores statements, byline) By Karey Wutkowski WASHINGTON, Nov 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued another batch of lead paint-related recalls of Chinese-made children's products on Wednesday, including metal jewelry sold by discount retailers Family Dollar Stores Inc <FDO.N> and Big Lots Inc <BIG.N> and school supplies. About 205,000 units of recalled jewelry were sold at discount store chain Family Dollar from January 2003 through August 2007 under the Rachel Rose and Distinctly Basics brands, CPSC said in a statement. Also recalled were about 43,000 Sparkle City charm bracelets and tack pin sets sold at Big Lots stores from August 2005 through April 2007 for about $1, the agency said. The recalled charm bracelets have silver-colored star and butterfly charms, and clear and pink beads that hang from a silver-colored chain. The tack pins are silver butterflies or stars with clear and pink beads. The CPSC said consumers should return the jewelry to the store where purchased for a full refund. The CPSC recalls came as New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced on Wednesday that Big Lots, Michaels Stores and some other retailers agreed to stop sales of children's jewelry found to contain dangerous levels of lead as part of settlements with New York. The settlements came after an investigation found high levels of lead in children's jewelry, Cuomo's office said. His office said a national recall by the CPSC of lead-contaminated children's jewelry was based on Cuomo's investigation. "It was a business initiative that we decided to discontinue the sale of those items," said Big Lots General Counsel Charles Haubiel. Michaels Stores said in a statement that it has taken several steps to address quality issues with Chinese-made products, including acting promptly to remove products with suspected lead content. "Our safety policy with regard to products supplied by outside vendors is one of the most stringent in our industry," the company said. PENCIL POUCHES The CPSC also issued two recalls for school supplies due to lead paint concerns, including about 84,200 children's pencil pouches sold by school supply distributors in schools nationwide from September 1997 through October 2007. The Chinese-made products include "Stuff Keepers" pencil pouches and "Bear Pencil Pouches," with style numbers 63525 and 67221, respectively. The other school supply recall involved about 20,000 shaving-style paint brushes sold by Discount School Supply's catalog and Web site from May 2004 through August 2007. The recalled brushes were also included with the "BioColor Foam Paint Starter Kit" and "Colorations Foam Paint Starter Kit." The CPSC also issued a recall of about 45,000 Chinese-made decorative stretchable aqua bracelets sold at various dollar stores, liquidators, and schools as part of fund-raising nationwide from September 2003 through April 2007 for between $1 and $12. The recalled bracelets, which contain high levels of lead, are stretchable, with silver-colored square links and aqua-colored beads, the agency said. Further, the CPSC issued a recall of about 38,000 Boppy slipcovers, which have a zipper pull that can break, posing a choking hazard to young children. The paint on the zippers also contains excess levels of lead, the CPSC said. The Chinese-made slipcovers were sold at discount department stores nationwide from July 2006 through September 2007. The recall includes velvet and boa slipcovers intended for use with the Boppy Bare Naked nursing and support pillow. (Additional reporting by Paritosh Bansal in New York and Aniruddha Basu in Bangalore) (Editing by Brian Moss and Gerald E. McCormick)
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