Target Fined for Lead Paint in Toys

Target Corp. (TGT - Analyst Report) agreed to pay a $600,000 penalty for allegedly importing and selling a variety of toys with lead paint on the surface.

Lead is toxic if ingested by young children. It is believed that the lead content on some of the toys' surface coatings were higher than is the legally permissible limit according to the 1978 lead paint ban, according to government safety officials.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) suspected that Target did not take proper precautionary measures related to lead paints. The penalty relates to toys sold between May 2006 and August 2007.

Target had recalled more than 500,000 Kool Toyz play sets, Anima Bamboo Collection games, Happy Giddy gardening tools and Sunny Patch chairs for lead paint violations between November 2006 and September 2007.

Lead-coated toys, primarily manufactured in China, were a serious cause of concern for many toymakers and retailers a couple of years ago. This had resulted in recalls and thousands of toys being pulled off store shelves.

Earlier this year, one of the leading toymakers Mattel Inc (MAT - Analyst Report) was also penalized -- $2.3 million -- by the CPSC for violating a ban on bringing dangerous toys into the U.S. In its settlement, Target denies it knowingly broke laws when it imported and sold the Chinese toys.

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