Lead complaint filed against Disney

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Lead complaint filed against Disney
Environmental group tells attorney general that company toys have excessive levels of toxin.

By JENIFER B. McKIM
The Orange County Register


An Oakland-based environmental agency on Monday filed legal action against the Walt Disney Co., saying it had sold lead-laden children's jewelry.

The Center for Environmental Health sent certified notice to the state Attorney General's Office of its interest in suing Disney for failing to warn customers about lead-tainted jewelry, under the state anti-toxics law, Proposition 65.

The center says a Disney-brand "Princess bracelet, key ring" and children's jewelry bought at Disneyland and California Adventure had dangerous levels of lead.

Under Prop. 65, the attorney general has 60 days to decide whether to sue or leave litigation up to the nonprofit group.

"We expect Disney to take swift action to protect children from this toxic jewelry," said Michael Green, executive director of the Center for Environmental Health, which sent letters to Disney and the attorney general Monday. "It should be the responsibility of these companies to know about the safety of what they are selling."

Disney officials had not yet been contacted and would investigate. They said product safety is important and all licensees must follow federal product-safety guidelines. "We take this very seriously to make sure our products are safe for kids," said Clint Hayashi, a Disney spokesman.

The legal challenge comes amid growing concern nationwide over lead-tainted children's jewelry. Last year, Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed a lawsuit against 13 major retailers for failing to warn customers about lead-laden jewelry, and federal regulators pulled more than 150 million pieces of toy jewelry off shelves.

The Disney jewelry includes a "mood" necklace and bracelet with vinyl cords that contain high levels of lead, the center says.

The cords registered up to 19,500 parts per million lead, more than 32 times the allowed level for lead paint, the center said. The Disney bracelet had faux pearls with a coating that tested 166,000 parts per million lead, the center said.

http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2005/0...cle_477486.php