Federal regulators said on Wednesday that they had found high levels of the toxic metal cadmium in trinkets that were distributed for free to children at some doctor and dentist offices over the past five years.
The news came as the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a recall of nearly 70,000 charm bracelets and rings — the fourth time this year that the federal government has said inexpensive Chinese-made jewelry was being pulled from shelves because of cadmium, a known carcinogen.
What stood out about this recall was that children got the items in places where they are taken to stay healthy or get better.
Cadmium is a naturally occurring metal that, if ingested, can weaken bones and kidneys. The concern from federal regulators is that children could be exposed if they bite and suck on — and in rare cases, even swallow — jewelry containing cadmium.
The commission said parents should immediately throw away the approximately 66,200 “Children’s Happy Charm Bracelets” and 2,200 rings that have a metal football-shaped charm attached to an adjustable band. The charm bracelets have colored beads and a single metal charm shaped like a butterfly, moon or sun.
The agency has not received any reports of incidents or injuries involving either product. The items were distributed at doctor and dentist offices nationwide between June 2005 and March this year, the agency said.
The system of rewarding children with a toy or trinket has been commonplace for years among children’s dentists.
Mary Hayes, a pediatric dentist in Chicago and a spokeswoman for the American Dental Association, said that parents who are worried about the safety of items their children might get from a visit should speak with office staff.
“Any kind of worry like this, parents need to discuss that with the office and decide how they pick out their toys and what kinds of things they look for,” Hayes said, adding that she didn’t think the recalled items had been in the toy drawer at her office.
The purchasing manager at the firm that imported the charms — Toy Network LLC of Indianola, Iowa — said that testing the company did earlier this year showed cadmium.
Toy Network stopped importing the items “because of testing,” purchasing manager Jessica Dickinson said in a brief interview on Wednesday. She would not elaborate.
While there are no federal requirements for testing cadmium in children’s jewelry, some firms have started voluntarily looking for it in response to an ongoing investigation by The Associated Press that reported some Chinese manufacturers substituted cadmium when a 2008 federal law effectively banned lead from children’s jewelry.
Testing published by AP in January showed some jewelry was as much as 91 percent cadmium by weight, and that high levels can leach out when items were run through a test that mimics what would happen if a kid swallowed one.
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is to tighten rules for candidates running for public office, requiring them to declare that they do not hold a Chinese household registration or passport, and that they possess no other foreign citizenship. The requirement was set out in a draft amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法 ) released by the ministry on Thursday. Under the proposal, candidates would need to make the declaration when submitting their registration forms, which would be published in the official election bulletin. The move follows the removal of several elected officials who were
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
COVETED PRIZE: The US president would be a peace prize laureate should he persuade Xi Jinping to abandon military aggression against Taiwan, William Lai said US President Donald Trump should get the Nobel Peace Prize should he be able to convince Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to abandon the use of force against Taiwan, President William Lai (賴清德) told a conservative US radio show and podcast in an interview. The US is Taiwan’s most important international backer, despite the absence of formal ties, but since Trump took office earlier this year he has not announced any new arms sales to the nation. Trump could meet Xi at the APEC summit in South Korea on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. Lai, speaking on The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton
A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would severely threaten the national security of the US, Japan, the Philippines and other nations, while global economic losses could reach US$10 trillion, National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) wrote in an article published yesterday in Foreign Affairs. “The future of Taiwan is not merely a regional concern; it is a test of whether the international order can withstand the pressure of authoritarian expansionism,” Lin wrote in the article titled “Taiwan’s Plan for Peace Through Strength — How Investments in Resilience Can Deter Beijing.” Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) intent to take Taiwan by force
RSS