Story Tools: E-MAIL | PRINT | Text Size: S M L XL | REPORT TYPO | SEND YOUR FEEDBACK

Toys 'R' Us recalls 27,000 art kits for lead paint hazard

Last Updated: Thursday, August 30, 2007 | 2:17 PM ET

CBC News

About 27,000 art kits manufactured in China are being recalled from Toys "R" Us stores because they contain excessive levels of lead, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday.

Imaginarium Wooden Colouring Cases were recalled for high lead levels on Thursday.
(Courtesy Toys "R" Us)

The kits were sold in Canada and the U.S., a company spokesman confirmed Thursday. The CPSC warned that ink on the Imaginarium Wooden Colouring Cases and black watercolour paint in the kit contain unsafe levels of lead. No injuries have been reported.

Children are most vulnerable to lead exposure because they absorb it more easily than adults. Due to their low body weight, any amount of lead is more dangerous to children than it would be to adults.

The kits, which contain crayons, pastels, coloured pencils, pens, paintbrushes, pencils and water colours, were sold at Toys "R" Us stores in the U.S. and on its website toysrus.com from October 2006 through August 2007 for about $20 US.

Consumers should take the kit away from children and return the product to any Toys "R" Us for a store credit.

The announcement follows a larger recall issued in mid-August when Mattel Inc. recalled 436,000 die-cast Sarge cars worldwide because the toys were found to contain high levels of lead.

Internal Links

IN DEPTH: Lead in toys
Recalls and advisoriees

External Links

Recall announcement

(Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites - links will open in new window)

Consumer Headlines

Inflation rate eases to 2.6%: Canada's annual inflation rate eased to 2.6 per cent in October, down from the 12-month increase of 3.4 per cent seen in September.
Rona to cut out unsustainable wood, stop sales of cosmetic pesticides: Rona Inc., the largest Canadian home renovation retailer, is changing its lumber buying policies in an effort to conserve the boreal forest, and will stop selling pesticides for cosmetic purposes.
Auto dealers call for government help: The industry group representing Canada's automobile dealers said Canadian politicians must take immediate steps to increase liquidity in the car markets.
Slowdown forces Delta Air Lines to cut capacity: Delta Air Lines on Friday said it plans to scale back capacity on its domestic and international routes because of the slowing economy.
N.W.T. lotto winner takes $1M cash over car: A cancer patient in the Northwest Territories has won a $1-million car, but says he's taking cash instead because he doesn't need such a fast machine in a remote town with one 12-kilometre road.

Consumer Life Features

In the Blogs

Most Blogged about CBC.ca Articles

Top court backs free seat ruling for some disabled, obese travellers
CRTC allows Bell to continue internet throttling
Reports of meteor streaking across Prairies

Full list of articles »

Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites - link will open in new window

Top CBCNews.ca Headlines

Headlines

Markets surge in late trading on report of new U.S. treasury secretary: North American markets jumped late in the session Friday after NBC News reported that U.S. president-elect Barack Obama would nominate New York Federal Reserve Bank president Tim Geithner as treasury secretary.
Harper announces free-trade pact with Colombia ahead of APEC summit: Prime Minister Stephen Harper approved a free-trade deal with Colombia on Friday, the day before the beginning of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru.
Auto dealers call for government help: The industry group representing Canada's automobile dealers said Canadian politicians must take immediate steps to increase liquidity in the car markets.
Meteor seemed really close, many western Canadians report: From Edmonton to Edgeley, Sask., and points in between, people reported that Thursday night's brillant fireball seemed mighty close.
Obama must knock on 'other doors' for Afghanistan: MacKay: U.S. president-elect Barack Obama should look to other NATO allies for additional help in Afghanistan rather than ask countries who are already carrying a "disproportionate share of the load," Defence Minister Peter MacKay said.