The Cochran Firm Legal Blog

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission hit retail behemoth Target with a $600,000 penalty for importing and selling lead-based toys. The CPSC says this violated a 30 year ban on toys with lead in them. Furthermore, the CPSC says Target knew the toys had high levels of lead in them and failed to take any action to keep these defective products away from the public. Target denies these allegations, however has agreed with the penalty.

The lead-based toys were imported from China and sold between May 2006 and August 2007. These include Kool Toyz Products, Happy Giddy Gardening Tools, Sunny Patch Chairs, and Anima-Bamboo Collection Games. Target sold around 350,000 of them before the items were recalled in 2007.

Minneapolis-based Target Corp. issued a statement that read in part, "Based upon information from our vendors, Target believed that items in the product lines identified in the CPSC/Target civil penalty settlement did meet our standards and were compliant with all product safety laws when delivered to Target." The company further states the recall was voluntary after they discovered the toys had excess levels of lead.

Lead has been known for decades to cause lead poisoning and developmental problems in children. Slower mental acuity in children with lead poisoning is still a problem in some areas of the country, not to mention to world where lead is not as stringently regulated as it is in the US. The CPSC has issued 39 penalties this year to companies, most of those for lead violations, for an almost ten million dollar assessment.

CPSC Chairman Tenenbaum said of the Target payment, "This penalty should remind importers and retailers that they have always had the same obligation to meet the strict lead limits as the manufacturers."

If you or a loved one has lead poisoning as a result of a defective product, please contact the experienced personal injury attorneys at the Cochran Firm. We serve clients nationwide.

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