Target stops sales of Valentine's Day 'Message Bears' over lead concerns (DU hearts are lead free)

Target stops sales of Valentine's Day 'Message Bears' over lead concerns


OAKLAND, Calif. -- The California attorney general is asking Target Corp. to pull its Valentine's Day "Message Bears" from store shelves over concerns that they have illegal levels of lead.

In a letter sent to the company Monday, Attorney General Jerry Brown said testing of the holiday toys revealed lead levels that violate federal law.

The products were identified as two of Target's "Message Bears" -- one a pink stuffed bear with "XOXO" across the chest and the other a brown stuffed bear with "I Love U" across the chest, with "love" represented by a heart.

Investigators from the Center for Environmental Health, a nonprofit watchdog, found that the bears' inflated vinyl letters contained well over federal limits for lead in products for children under the age of 12.

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/02/california_wants_target_to_pul.html