Lead in kids' jewelry prompts recall
Health minister says lead in children's jewelry an ongoing issue
CBC News
Posted: Dec 21, 2011 3:10 PM ET
Last Updated: Dec 21, 2011 4:55 PM ET
Approximately 1,287 units of the strawberry pendant and 1,683 units of the camera pendant were sold in Canada at Ardene stores.
(Health Canada)
Related
Related Links
External Links
(Note:CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external links.)
Some children’s jewelry is being recalled in Canada over high lead content, Health Canada announced Wednesday.
The products include two metallic necklaces and pendants sold by Ardene; one with a strawberry shaped pendant and the other with a camera shaped pendant. Approximately 1,287 units of the strawberry pendant and 1,683 units of the camera pendant were sold in Canada.
The strawberry pendants were sold from October 2010 to December 2011 and the camera pendants were sold from August 2010 to December 2011. Both were manufactured in China.
Another recall announced late Wednesday included children's jewelry under the names Impulse and Party Princess. Approximately 5,604 units of Chinese-made charms and bracelets were distributed by Deejay Jewellry Inc. at various stores across Canada between February 2005 and December 2011.
The recall has highlighted the presence of high levels of lead in children’s jewelry. "I'm announcing today to Canadians that there are a number of products that we will be recalling, particularly in children's jewelry, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq told CBC News Wednesday. She said that up to 50 per cent of the products routinely tested contain lead.
“It's very disappointing to learn that industry continues to not comply which means that we have to have more inspectors out there,” she said.
Under the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act's Children's Jewelry Regulations, it is illegal to import, advertise or sell jewelry items that appeal primarily to children under 15 years of age and contain more than 600 mg/kg total lead and 90 mg/kg migratable lead, which can enter the body under certain conditions, such as chewing, sucking, or swallowing. The Act has raised the fines and penalties for non-compliance to $5 million for serious offences, up from $1 million.
In October 2010, Health Canada called for a voluntary ban on cadmium in children’s jewelry.
Aglukkaq said Health Canada will be following up with the industry to determine “why a certain level of products with very high levels of lead continue to be in the market" after the holidays.
However, James Van Loon, risk management, Consumer Product Safety Directorate, said ensuring each product's safety is impossible. “It's not up to us and check every single product. The industry should actually be complying in the first place."
Share Tools
Top News Headlines
- Tories line up to argue CP Railway strike hurting economy
- Conservative cabinet ministers say they're protecting the economy by moving to legislate Canadian Pacific Railway workers back to their jobs less than a week after the union went on strike, while the employees say their right to collective bargaining is under attack. more »
- Missing Winnipeg kids found in Mexico back with mom
- Two Winnipeg children who had been missing for nearly four years are back home, reunited with their mother, after they were located in Mexico late last week. more »
- Bullyproof: One classroom confession
- Chadia became physically scarred after incessant teasing. Her story is one of 150 gathered in a video confessional booth at a Quebec school. more »
- Quebec resumes talks with student leaders
- Negotiations between student leaders and Quebec's Liberal government resumed this afternoon in a third attempt to resolve the tuition crisis. more »
Latest Health News Headlines
- 5 ways to prevent kids from getting poisoned
- Poison centres across Canada field about 160,000 calls a year about children exposed to medications and other household chemicals more »
- Dementia patients may not imagine their future
- Our ability to imagine our future depends on a part of the brain used to store general knowledge, which is affected by some forms of dementia. more »
- Eastern Health to cut hundreds of jobs, Liberals say
- Health Minister Susan Sullivan says spending cuts at the province's largest health authority will not hurt programs and services, despite a claim by the Opposition Liberals. more »
- Ontario knocked for special-needs student support
- The province should conduct a review of how it serves special-needs students and improve a policy to support connections between schools and the community, a new report urges. more »
FEATURED HEALTH
- Missing Winnipeg kids found in Mexico back with mom
- Canadian Everest climber's body recovered
- Thunder Bay flooding causes state of emergency
- Vatican denies cardinal suspected in leaks scandal
- Evolution skeptics will soon be silenced by science: Richard Leakey
- Tories line up to argue CP Railway strike hurting economy
- Remains found in bag on Cape Breton river ID'd
- Justin Bieber wanted for questioning in L.A. scuffle
- Accused in blast that killed Alberta mom handled her funds
