Ill. Attorney General Warns Consumers about Recall on Children’s Jewelry

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan issued an alert on March 21st about a recall of children’s necklaces that contain high levels of lead that may be toxic if ingested by young children and can cause adverse health effects. The recall was first by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in cooperation with Claire’s Boutiques Inc.

The recalled children’s necklaces have metal pendants shaped as monkeys, dolphins, and frogs holding colored marbles; a fleur de lis painted in various colors; a silver and black fairy; silver-colored letters “BFF” with rhinestones; and tiny handcuffs painted in various colors. The pendants hang from silver-colored chains. “Claire’s” or “Claire’s best friends forever” is printed on the packaging.

Approximately 58,000 of these necklaces were sold at Claire’s retail stores nationwide from December 2005 through December 2006 for between $5 and $11.

Based on this recall, Madigan urged parents to take these necklaces away from children immediately and return the products to the nearest Claire’s store for a full refund or free product replacement.

“We should act quickly to ensure that children do not continue to have contact with a product that contains high levels of lead,” Madigan said.

Investigators from the Attorney General Madigan’s office pursuant to the Illinois Children’s Product Safety Act are conducting spot checks to ensure that retailers have posted the recall notice in a prominent location in stores and have removed the products from shelves.

In 2005, Illinois was the first state to enact comprehensive child safety notification measures with the General Assembly’s passage of new amendments to the Illinois Children’s Product Safety Act. The new amendments helped consumers by requiring manufacturers and retail merchants to post recall notices both in their stores and on their Web sites. The recall notification process was further strengthened by requiring manufacturers and retail merchants to alert, by e-mail or mail, Illinois consumers who purchased recalled children’s products online.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, childhood lead poisoning is considered to be the most preventable environmental disease impacting young children. While children are most commonly exposed to lead from lead-based paints in older homes, tainted toys, food, water or other items also can be significant sources of lead exposure for children.

The Illinois Department of Public Health’s Web site also provides a direct link to www.recalls.gov, where citizens can find up-to-date recall information about past and current recalls.

Source: Illinois Office of the Attorney General