More children's jewelry recalled for lead; China questioned risks

Today's recall of Sleeping Beauty crown and Cinderella star earring sets from Wal-Mart in Florida has a familiar ring to it. Though the number of affected units is remarkably small (just 220), the rest of the recall notice is similar to many we've seen recently. The Disney-branded children's earrings, manufactured in China for Uncas Manufacturing Co. of Providence, RI, are being recalled for high levels of lead, as were 20,000 pieces of children's jewelry recalled less than two weeks ago, along with over 6 million pieces of jewelry recalled so far this year.

With the ongoing surge in such recalls, you'd think there would be unanimous support for the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s proposal to ban any children’s metal jewelry containing more than 0.06 percent of total lead. Individual citizens, retailers, consumers and environmental groups (including Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports) all praised the proposed ban as a major step forward and way overdue. Several even argued that the 0.06 percent cap was too lenient.  

The exception: China. In comments filed with the CPSC, the government of China said the proposed rule was “unreasonable,” based on insufficient science. China said that jewelry could be made of more than 0.06 percent lead by weight because the coating would keep the lead from seeping out. Thus, the jewelry would “do little harm for children.” 

China said that while it agreed with the goal of protecting children’s health and safety, it believed a safety warning would be more appropriate.

The CPSC proposed the mandatory ban late last year, after the agency had issued at least 14 separate recalls, involving more than 160 million pieces of metal jewelry, over a two-year period. Already this year, the agency has issued 19 recalls for lead in children’s jewelry; all but two involved jewelry made in China.

To us, the increased number of recalls in 2007 alone seems another good reason for pressing forward with the mandatory ban. Though it may not entirely stop Chinese manufacturers from producing jewelry containing lead, it could put pressure on importers like the one recently quoted by The Wall Street Journal as complaining that testing products from China for lead is "a colossal pain." Chances are that penalties for violating a ban could be more painful than the costs of compliance.

See also:

• CPSC calls for tighter limits for lead
• Comments by Consumers Union on proposed CPSC rule (PDF)
• All comments on proposed CPSC rule (PDF)
• WSJ - Lead toxins take a global round trip (sub. req.)

Comments

[C. Ashwal]

With all these recalls, why are we still importing from China? Isn't there suppliers from somewhere else. Maybe, China is doing this on purpose to poison our children, hoping not to get caught. They are moving up the economic ladder and we stand in their way to being the #1 country in the world.

[China Law Blog]

American companies getting product from China must rely on their own contracts and their own monitoring and their own testing to make sure they are getting product that complies with US safety standards. They cannot and should not rely on their Chinese suppliers for this.