U.S. regulators announce recall of cadmium-laced kids' jewelry from Walmart

[OhioChick]

Source: Canadian Press

3 hours ago

U.S. federal consumer safety regulators on Friday announced the recall of "The Princess and The Frog" pendants sold at Walmart stores because of high levels of the toxic metal cadmium, an unprecedented action that reflects concerns of an emerging threat in children's jewelry.

The recall affects two products, about 55,000 items in total, sold exclusively by the world's biggest retailer for $5 each. The action was taken voluntarily by Rhode Island-based jewelry company FAF Inc., which did not respond to requests for comment.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which disclosed the recall, had been testing for cadmium in children's metal jewelry for several weeks in response to an Associated Press investigation that reported high levels of the known carcinogen in the Disney movie-themed pendants and other children's metal jewelry imported from China.

The Walt Disney Co. released a letter Friday it sent its vendors and licencees that sets a zero-tolerance policy for cadmium in any children's jewelry bearing its brand. That is far stricter than federal regulations, which not only don't require testing for cadmium in children's jewelry but also set no upper limit for how much a product can contain.

Disney is now requiring that all products be tested for cadmium, and that a detection means production and distribution of the product should be stopped.



Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jPkjkeaO78LJArms_tyzB8vFQ38g

[sohndrsmith]

1. Wow. Scary. I'm a painter, and reading the warnings on cadmium paints

is not something to ignore. Safety instructions need to be followed. That this stuff is in kids jewelry - without warning or labeling that lists potential hazards and side effects is... really... really... wrong. And dangerous. If paints require warning labels and safe handling instructions.

Check out info from OSHA:
http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=10036

(excerpts):

"A. Routes of Exposure. Cadmium can cause local skin or eye irritation. Cadmium can affect your health if you inhale it or if you swallow it."

"3. Long-term (chronic) exposure. Repeated or long-term exposure to cadmium, even at relatively low concentrations, may result in kidney damage and an increased risk of cancer of the lung and of the prostate."

[Hekate]

2. Good for Disney. The story about the cadmium in little girls' shiny stuff broke fairly recently...

... but Walmart et al have taken their own sweet time about responding.

Hekate

[onehandle]

3. Ah, China. We meet again. nt

[Kievan Rus]

4. This is why I buy ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that reads "made in China"

[tomm2thumbs]

5. can you imagine all the things made in the US with Chinese materials though?

there is no end to it. Paints, metal, drywall, paints, make-up, papers, food ingredients, pet food chemicals, packaging supplies, etc