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WASHINGTON : The US government on Thursday issued a flurry of product-safety recalls affecting hundreds of thousands of China-made children's toys and jewellery amid fresh concerns about lead paint.
The latest recall notices, issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, follow mass recalls of China-made toys earlier this year. The world's biggest toy maker, Mattel, has been particularly hard hit by the recalls.
The government said it was recalling 142,000 toy buckets decorated in a Halloween theme that have been sold by Family Dollar stores across the country.
Officials said paint on the buckets contained excessive levels of lead. The United States banned lead paint from being used to colour toys on health grounds in 1978.
The agency also issued a recall for 80,000 bobble head cake decorations cast as American football figures for numerous teams including the Indianapolis Colts and New York Giants. The bobble heads have been sold in bakeries and ice cream stores nationwide since January, according to the recall notice.
Also affected were 97,000 children's toy gardening tools sold by Jo-Ann Stores. Inc, and 38,000 toy boats made in China for Fisher-Price, which is owned by Mattel.
Traces of excessive levels of lead paint also sparked a recall for 190,000 sets of children's jewellery, including earrings, necklaces and bracelets, made for Greenbrier International, and 110,000 metal jewellery sets produced for WeGlow International.
The CPSC said no injuries or incidents were reported but urged consumers to stop using the products, all of which were assembled in China, or take them away from children immediately.
Chinese manufacturers have seen their image tarnished by a spate of product recalls affecting toys that have sullied the "Made-in-China" brand in the United States and other countries.
China is the world's top toy exporter, selling 22 billion toys overseas last year, or 60 percent of the globe's total. - AFP/de
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