'Coloring sets'- latest in growing list of tainted Chinese imports

The product recalls in the US have now become almost synonymous with Chinese goods. The latest to join the growing recalled list of poor quality Chinese products is “Wooden Coloring Cases”, which came under the scanner due to lead ink on their outer packaging.

Toys “R” Us Inc., the leading U.S. toy-store chain, in association with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission on Thursday issued a voluntary worldwide recall of Imaginarium Wooden Coloring Cases made in China because ink on the wooden cases contains lead.

Adding more to the ongoing concerns over the safety of Chinese-made products, Toys "R" Us, one of the world's largest toy retailers, said it is recalling 27,000 China-made crayon and paint box sets because of dangerously high lead levels in the printed ink on the outer packaging of the wood case.

Made by a Chinese vendor and sold from October 2006 through August 2007 in all Toys "R" Us stores and on its Web site, the latest recalled product includes an Imaginarium brand 213-piece set packed in light-tan wooden carrying case.

Each set includes crayons, pastels, colored pencils, fiber pens, a paintbrush, pencil, water colors, palette, white paint, ruler and pencil sharpener in a light tan wooden carrying case that measures about 14 inches high by 19 inches wide.

Consumer Product Safety Commission (C.P.S.C.), a US regulatory body for children’s products, said some of the black watercolor paint in the kit also contains ‘excessive’ levels of lead, which could be harmful for children’s health if taken in by them.

Retailed for about $20, the coloring sets were made for Funtastic by Danxiang International Trading in Ningbo, China. So far, Toys “R” Us has sold about 8,300 of the art kits nationwide.

Although, no injuries have been reported so far from the products, but the safety commission is suggesting that the coloring sets should not be used and be returned to a Toys “R” Us store for credit.

Troubles for Chinese products do not seem to stop anywhere instead they are getting worse day by day. The latest recall is the second from Toys “R”Us in this month. On August 17, the toys retailer pulled vinyl baby bibs made by Hamco Inc. that manufactures most of its products in China, and other vendors. The bibs, while being cheap, have been found to have lead in them.

Before this, another toy company, Mattel Inc., recalled more than 20 million Chinese-made products. On July 31, Fisher-Price Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Mattel Inc., in association with the CPSC issued a voluntary worldwide recall of 83 types of Fisher-Price-branded preschool toys. The agency and the toy company believed the recalled toys’ surfaces were covered in lead paint.

Chinese products have been under fire in the US and other parts of the world since April this year. The incident that sparked off the drive to label Chinese products unsafe was the declaration of Chinese pet food as being ‘tainted’ by the US Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Concerns over safety of China-made products intensified all over the world in recent months after several other products from the country, including pet food contaminated with melamine and toothpaste contaminated with DEG as well as some other toys, including Thomas & Friends railroad toys, bracelets, charms and army toy sets, were found hazardous to health.