In a story appearing on at least 199 news websites, the AP (1/12) reported, "Despite the risks, manufacturers in factories ringing" Yiwu, a "city on China's east coast, say their top priority is profit. So offering cut-rate goods often means using lower quality materials, including cadmium, which is known to cause cancer." The CPSC "announced it was opening an investigation into the AP's findings, and China's government also took notice of the trouble brewing in its largest export market."
In a separate article appearing on at least 320 news websites, the AP (1/12) reported, "The jewelry and accessories store Claire's, with nearly 3,000 locations in North America and Europe, on Tuesday joined Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in saying it would stop selling any item cited in an Associated Press investigation of the presence of cadmium in cheap bracelets and charms." Meanwhile, at a toy safety conference in Hong Kong, Wang Xin, a director general for the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine in China said, "We just heard about this, and we will investigate." Also on Tuesday, "Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, who sits on the Commerce Committee, urged a hearing on cadmium in imported children's jewelry."
The Minneapolis Star Tribune (1/12) editorialized, "Efforts to protect Americans from contaminated products need to focus beyond cadmium." Congress "also needs to bolster the safety of American-made products. The nonpartisan General Accounting Office has called for an overhaul of the toothless Toxic Substances Control Act, concluding that it emasculates federal regulators to the point that 'the nation lacks assurance that human health and the environment are adequately protected.'" The Star Tribune endorses legislation to reform the Act.
From the American Association for Justice news release.
How are parents to dispose of the jewelry safely? If it does indeed include cadmium, it cannot go out with the trash.
Posted by: Lisa Ginns | January 20, 2010 at 09:37 AM
Good question Lisa, and I don't have an answer. I guess you'd have to call your city and ask someone in the sanitation department. Frankly, the main thing is to get it out of your house, or at least put up high enough so kids can't get into it.
Posted by: Robert A. Kraft | January 20, 2010 at 09:59 AM