800,000 Bracelets Recalled after Child's Death

Three-hundred thousand bracelets given away as a promotion for a line of Reebok children's shoes have been recalled after a Minnesota four-year-old child died of lead poisoning after swallowing one of the bracelets. Over 500,000 other pieces of children's jewelry items are being recalled by Dollar Tree Distribution Inc., for the same reasons. The items were manufactured in China. An investigation into the matter is underway.



This tragedy is made all the more tragic by the very fact that the dangers of lead have been known for so long and that regulations regarding the exposure to humans and especially children have gotten so much attention in recent decades. At present, it's unknown just how this was allowed to happen, but clearly Chinese manufacturers do not have the same view of consumer safety that most of the rest of us have come to expect. While it is unclear how many of these 800,000 items have made their way into the hands of children, the sheer numbers involved represent a major health risk and parents should be made aware of this threat.

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[edit on 2006/3/23 by GradyPhilpott]

[edit on 25-3-2006 by Thomas Crowne]

another reason to buy American. I know Chinese goods are cheaply made but the quality is never there. You can buy stuff from the dollar store, use it once and then it has to go in the trash. Especially those cheap children's toys. Sometimes our budgets force us to shop dollar stores, but whenever possible I try to buy American made instead of the imports.

btw it's kinda scary to know there are so many of this potentially dangerous bracelet out in the hands of kids.

[edit on 3-25-2006 by worldwatcher]

This is awfull, there are also Adverts in the UK papers telling people to dispose of the bracelets as well,

Not good one little bit,

Terrible thing to happen to children, we sometimes forget that foreign countries do not have to follow the American standards when it comes to manufacturing.

Or at least once in a while something get true for lack of knowledge.

I have an experience today in the supermarket as I was waiting for an order of oysters I decided to look at the see food, I mean really look at it.

To my surprise the shrimp came from Thailand, the salmon from china, the crab legs from Russia and the frog legs from South America.

Only the By pass sea food products were American.

Very, very disturbing,

I do not think that the fact that the bracelets were made in China is the problem, the shoes probably were made there too.

The problem in this case was that the company (Reebok) that ordered the bracelets and the authorities that oversee the imports let them enter the market without knowing (or caring) if they were made according to country of destination's standards.

Also, the bracelets are not supposed to be eaten, so maybe the risk of poisoning is not high unless they are eaten, but that applies to many items.