Feds expanding recalls of kids’ jewelry
Companies’ tests find high levels of cadmium
LOS ANGELES – Federal regulators are expanding their investigation into children’s jewelry that contains the toxic metal cadmium, promising that a recall announced Monday of “Best Friends” charm bracelets will not be the last.
“More recalls are in the works,” U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission spokesman Scott Wolfson said.
Those recalls would be the result of voluntary testing by companies, some of which have found troubling levels of cadmium and then reported those results to the agency, Wolfson said.
In addition, in recent weeks agency inspectors working at 10 of the nation’s largest ports have screened imports of jewelry for cadmium. In one instance, a shipment of Chinese jewelry was turned away.
Word of expanded federal efforts came as the consumer safety agency announced the voluntary recall of about 19,000 “Best Friends” charm bracelet sets made in China and sold exclusively at the jewelry and accessories store Claire’s, which has more than 3,000 outlets in North America and Europe.
While the CPSC did not release its results, testing done for the AP revealed that bracelets sold at Claire’s contained up to 91 percent cadmium by weight, and shed alarming amounts during a test that examined how much cadmium children might be exposed to if they accidentally swallow one of the charms.
Consumers should take the bracelets – which sold for about $12 – away from children and return them to Claire’s for a replacement or refund, according to the announcement. Claire’s said Monday it has stopped further shipments from the manufacturer.
At the nation’s ports, federal product safety screeners are now using special guns that shoot X-rays into jewelry to estimate how much cadmium each item might contain. Samples of items with high initial results – dozens so far – have been sent to the CPSC’s headquarters for detailed lab testing.
In one instance, a shipment of Chinese jewelry shed high levels of cadmium. That shipment was then “re-exported” – which under U.S. law doesn’t mean it had to be sent back to China.