Sellers who post recalled items for sale on eBay may be kicked off the website, the San Jose-based auction website cautioned Tuesday.

EBay officials said they are sending notices to sellers urging them to be attentive to recent recalls before posting new items.

Mattel issued an extensive recall of products this year because of high lead levels and unsafe embedded magnets.
(Pat Roque/Associated Press)

The company, which featured 559 million items for sale worth $14.46 billion US in the last quarter, said it is working with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to help inform buyers about recent product safety problems.

"We see extra education as part of our responsibility in light of the recent toy recalls," said Catherine Schwartz, eBay's toy and gadget director.

"Listing items on eBay which have been recalled is strictly prohibited and if the CPSC asks eBay to remove an item, we will take it down," she said.

In recent months, many consumers have struggled to keep up with a spate of recalls and product safety investigations, including ones involving widely distributed toys.

On Aug. 1, Mattel recalled about 1.5 million preschool toys for high lead levels. The company issued a second, larger recall of more than 18 million toys on Aug. 14, saying magnets embedded in the toys as well as high lead levels posed a safety threat to young children.

Mattel later ordered a third recall of about 844,000 toys with unsafe lead levels. All the toys were made in China.

Other recent recalls include Thomas the Train products and Toys "R" Us art kits, in both cases for high lead levels.

Infant died in playpen

Health Canada cautions it is illegal to sell or give away products that fail to meet safety standards set out in the Hazardous Products Act. If a person is found selling a product that has been recalled, the buyer may file a lawsuit.

In August, an 11-month-old infant in Richmond, B.C., died in a playpen that was recalled more than 10 years ago because of a design flaw.

The infant's grandmother had bought the Century Fold-N-Go playpen at a garage sale in Winnipeg a few months before the baby's death, unaware that it had been recalled in 1996 because the locks that held down the sides could fail, causing the sides to collapse.