The US consumer safety agency announced on Thursday the recall of more than 635,000 Chinese-made toys, key chains and other products that contain unsafe levels of lead or pose a choking hazard.
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission said no injuries or incidents were reported but urged consumers to stop using the products or take them away from children immediately.
More than 555,000 of the products in the voluntary recalls contain excessive levels of lead, while 82,000 baby rattles sold by Target are recalled because they can break open and release beads that pose a choking hazard, the commission said.
The products with excessive levels of lead include 192,000 keychains and and 63,000 Halloween tumblers sold by Dollar General Merchandising Inc, 150,000 bookmarks from Antioch Publishing, 79,000 Pirates of the Caribbean squeeze lights from Eveready Battery Co, and 35,000 toy blocks from Kids II Inc.
Too much lead was also found in 15,000 toy decorating sets from Toys "R" Us, 11,200 water bottles from Sports Authority, and 10,000 wooden toys sold by KB Toys.
The US banned the use of lead paint for toys on health grounds in 1978.
China has been hit by a spate of product recalls, including toys and baby cribs, that have sullied the "Made-in-China" brand in the US and elsewhere around the world.
China is the world's top toy exporter, selling 22 billion toys overseas last year, or 60 percent of the globe's total.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RSS