CEH Finds Top Holiday Toys Pass Lead Rules, Problems with Other Kid & Adult Products
The Center for Environmental Health has found that toys listed as among those expected to be the most popular for this year’s holiday shopping season are free from lead hazards. However, the Center’s recent testing has found lead problems in several other children’s products and certain adult products.
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Federal Lead Levels Violations in Kid’s Products, CA Violations in Adult Jewelry
CEH found high levels of lead in a Sanrio “Hello Kitty” doll dress-up set, a child’s NFL lunchbox from TJ Maxx, and a child’s backpack from Big Lots, in violation of federal lead limits for children’s products.1 CEH’s tests of a reusable children’s panda shopping bag purchased online from ToysRUs.com also revealed more than double the legal limit for lead.
In addition, the organization’s tests of adult jewelry sold at Styles for Less, Nordstroms, Sears, and Walmart revealed lead content in violation of California law. One adult necklace from Styles for Less marked “lead free” had a clasp that tested more than four times California’s lead limit for jewelry.
CA Attorney General Has Notified Companies of the Violations
CEH states that the California Attorney General’s office has notified the firms of the violations.
(CEH is testing children's products for compliance to the federal and California laws as part of a state compliance testing program, and is funded for this work by a grant from the California Attorney General that is administered by the nonprofit Public Health Trust. The nonprofit also tests jewelry for compliance with a legal agreement and with California law using a grant from the Proposition 65 Jewelry Testing Fund.)
1The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) imposed progressive limits on lead content in consumer products designed or intended primarily for children 12 and under such that: (i) on February 10, 2009, children's products with more than 600 ppm of total lead content by weight in any accessible part became banned hazardous substances; (ii) on August 14, 2009, the allowable lead content limit in such products decreased to 300 ppm; and (iii) on August 14, 2011, the limit will decrease to 100 ppm, unless CPSC determines that it is not technologically feasible for a product or product category.
(See ITT’s Online Archives or 10/15/10 and 09/02/10 news, 10101523 and 10101523, for most recent BP summaries of CEH’s lead violation findings.)