The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced today that nine children's product manufacturers, importers and sellers have agreed to pay more than $500,000 in civil penalties for violating the federal lead paint ban.
The penalties settle allegations that the firms knowingly manufactured, imported, or sold toys and other children's articles with paint or other surface coatings that contained lead levels in violation of federal law. The settlements have been provisionally accepted by the Commission.
These products were recalled in 2007 and 2008, and include items such as toys, children's metal jewelry, children's pens, metal water bottles, pencil pouches, sunglasses and children's Halloween pails and baskets. Tests showed that paint or surface coatings on these children's products contained lead in excess of 600 ppm, or 0.06 percent, by weight. One firm's testing revealed that its products contained surface coatings with nearly 60 percent lead. In 1978, a federal ban was put in place which prohibited toys and other children's articles from having more than 0.06 percent lead (by weight) in paints or surface coatings. Lead can be toxic if ingested by young children and can cause adverse health consequences.
CPSC has ordered the following firms to pay civil penalties to the federal government:
Cardinal Distributing Co. Inc., of Baltimore, Md., $100,000
Recall: #07-157
Dollar General Corp., of Goodlettsville, Tenn., $100,000
Recalls: 08-007, #08-068, #08-080
Family Dollar Stores Inc., of Matthews, N.C., $75,000
Recall: #08-051
Hobby Lobby Stores Inc., of Oklahoma City, Okla., $50,000
Recalls: #08-084, #08-229
First Learning Company Ltd., of Hong Kong, $50,000
Recalls: #08-141, #08-174
Michaels Stores Inc., of Irving, Texas, $45,000
Recall: #08-248
A&A Global Industries Inc., of Cockeysville, Md., $40,000
Recall: #07-144
Raymond Geddes & Co, of Baltimore, Md., $40,000
Recall: #08-096
Downeast Concepts Inc., of Yarmouth, Maine, $30,000
Recall: #08-231
In agreeing to settle the matters, the firms deny CPSC's allegations that they knowingly violated the law.
-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
No comments:
Post a Comment
We do not publish all comments, and we may not publish comments immediately.
Constructive debate, even opposing views, are welcome, but personal attacks on other commenters or individuals in the article are not, and will not be published.
We will NOT post any comments with LINKS, nor will we publish comments that are commercial in nature.
We will not publish comments that we deem to be obscene, defamatory, or intended to incite violence.