U.S. regulators to check imports for cadmium

   U.S. Customs and Border Protection will work closely during the next few months with the Consumer Product Safety Commission to gear up testing for cadmium and how to identify whether imported products may contain the toxic heavy metal, said Anne Maricich, assistant port director for trade at Los Angeles International Airport.
   She spoke at an import-export seminar Jan. 20 held in nearby Torrance, Calif., by the American Association of Exporters and Importers.
   The United States has implemented stricter standards and enforcement of lead content in children’s toys during the past two years in response to several product recalls. But some Chinese manufacturers have begun substituting the more dangerous metal cadmium in charm bracelets and shiny pendants, according to an Associated Press investigation this month.
   The AP had 103 products tested in a lab and found 12 percent had at least 10 percent cadmium. One item contained 91 percent cadmium by weight. Other contaminated trinkets, purchased at national and regional chains or franchises, contained 84 percent to 89 percent cadmium.
   Cadmium is a carcinogen that can hinder brain development in children, who can develop sufficient exposure from regularly sucking or biting jewelry with high cadmium content.
   The AP said some of the worst test results were for bracelet charms sold at Wal-Mart, at the jewelry chain Claire’s and at a dollar store. High amounts of cadmium also were detected in The Princess and the Frog movie-themed pendants.
   The wire service said the cadmium has been used in jewelry production in China for years, but that U.S. regulations don’t prevent the sale of such items in domestic stores.
   Import safety has increasingly become a greater priority for CBP following recent scares of tainted products from China and other countries. CBP and CPSC inspectors are co-located at several locations now, including at a container examination station near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
   In related news, fashion retailers H&M and New York & Co. and two suppliers agreed to pull women’s handbags off store shelves in California after the Center for Environmental Health found high levels of lead on purses in 100 different chains. Lab tests found that lead was easily wiped off the material and that the bags contained very high levels, ABC News reported.
   Lead is sometimes used in synthetic handbags to make the material pliable. The concern is that the lead can rub off and get on hands and then the mouths of children.
   Under a settlement with the environmental group, the two stores will also test to a higher lead standard in the future.
   H&M said it will enforce tougher standards globally.
   The Center for Environmental Health told ABC News it is in discussion with more than 60 major retailers and suppliers working toward a similar agreement. If that broader settlement with retail giants is achieved, it could mean tough new lead standards for bags in stores across the country, ABC reported on its Web site. — Eric Kulisch