According to the NYT, Target, Limited Too and Dollar General have located additional products that are contaminated with lead, but no recalls have been announced by the CPSC.

The retailers have been quietly pulling the items off shelves. CPSC rules stipulate that a retailer has 24 hours to report a defect that has potential to cause injury, a rule that companies regularly ignore.

Target disclosed that two products it sold recently — David Kirk Happy Giddy Children’s Garden Trowel and Sunny Patch Safari Children’s Chair — had hazardous levels of lead. It did not say how many of the items were sold before it became aware of the lead contamination in August.

Dollar General said that 192,000 metal key chains appeared to be contaminated, while Tween Brands, owner of Limited Too stores, said it had discovered lead paint on a decorative flower-shaped object included in the wrapping of a shower gel and body lotion set.

Discount School Supply, a retailer based in Monterey, Calif., reported that three products in its inventory that were made in China or Taiwan appeared in preliminary tests to have lead contamination. The items were sold under the names Giant Measuring Chart, Rolling Storage Rack and Shaving Paint Brushes.

Representatives for Target, Dollar General and Discount School Supply did not respond to requests for comment. A spokeswoman for Tween Brands said she did not know how many of the bath sets had been sold. A spokesman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission also declined to comment.

The retailers disclosed the additional lead items in response to questions asked by the House the Energy and Commerce Committee of 19 companies that had already recalled Chinese-made products because of lead contamination. The retailers have pulled the items off shelves but have not informed consumers.

We’re keeping an eye on the hearings and it seems that Mattel chose not to respond to the committee’s survey, and Dollar General chose not to attend—angering Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Bobby Rush (D-IL) respectively. The terms “obstruction of justice” and “perjury” were used.

More Retailers Found to Have Lead-Tainted Items [NYT]
(Photo:smcgee)

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