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March 22, 2008
CPSC stirs: finally fines Reebok, recalls more Magnetix toys
From the Minneapolis-St. Paul (MN) Pioneer-Press story Reebok fined $1 million in lead poisoning death of Minneapolis boy, 4 by Jeremy Olson: Reebok is paying an unprecedented $1 million federal fine for giving away lead charms with its children's shoes, including the heart-shape pendant that poisoned and killed a 4-year-old Minneapolis boy two years ago. Little Jarnell Brown swallowed a lead laden-charm that came free with a pair of sneakers-- the charms tested after the death came in at 78 to 93 percent lead. The terse CPSC press release (presumably as approved by Reebok) simply states that "The FHSA [Federal Hazardous Substances Act] bans toxic levels of accessible lead in toys and other children’s products. CPSC’s enforcement policy urges manufacturers of children’s metal jewelry to keep lead content below 0.06% by weight." If you're not scoring at home, I'll do the math: those lead-laden charms come in at over one thousand times the current legal limits and about six thousand times the limits proposed in CPSC reform legislation that is currently being negotiated between House and Senate staff for approval. We're doing our best to keep out most of the pernicious exceptions and safe-harbors that the jewelers, the electronics makers, the toy guys and everyone else that likes lead want to include.
Dangerous magnets: Will Magnetix maker be fined?
The CPSC has also announced yet another recall of Magnetix brand toys. This multiple recall included more of the action figures for older kids and also included some pre-school toys because dangerous small magnets can "detach." As Patricia Callahan reports in her Chicago Tribune story 2.4 million more dangerous toys recalled:
Federal safety regulators recalled an additional 2.4 million potentially deadly Mega Brands magnetic toys Monday, at least 14 months after learning there might be problems with some of those products. In December 2006, a consumer complained to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission that magnets could come loose from Mega Brands Magna-Man action figures, one of the toys recalled, according to government records. And last May a Tribune report, which featured an account of a magnet popping out of one of those action figures, questioned whether the company's earlier Magnetix recalls covered all of the potentially hazardous toys in the line. From the pre-school figures recall release: MEGA Brands and CPSC have received 19 reports of magnets coming loose, including one report of a 3-year-old boy receiving medical treatment to remove a magnet from his nasal cavity and one report of an 18-month-old boy with a magnet in his mouth, which was not swallowed. As the picture shows, the pre-school toys are absolutely attractive to toddlers. Of course, if the magnets fall out of any of the toys, no matter what age they are intended for, they look like candy, are generally too small to choke on (so they migrate directly to the stomach and intestine), and pose serious hazards, including death. Find out more over at magnetscankill.
Kudos to the CPSC for fining Reebok; it won't bring Jarnell back but may wake up other companies and prevent future tragedies. Yet I wonder when the CPSC is going to start using the big stick against Mega Brands, maker of Magnetix toys that seem to keep getting recalled. The CPSC also announced the recall of Battat construction sets for similar magnet hazards.
Posted by Ed Mierzwinski at March 22, 2008 10:01 AM
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