Lead Toys Continue To Be Sold

Despite Massive Recall, Trinkets Still Finding Their Way To The Market

(CBS)  Last May, CBS News first alerted the government to the problem of dangerous amounts of lead in vending machine toys - just a quarter and a twist of a plastic container away from little hands. The Consumer Product Safety Commission followed up and issued its biggest recall ever: 150 million pieces of jewelry.

The chairman of the commission, Hal Stratton, said in July that "as soon as we get this recall completed," parents could be assured that all toys with lead in them would be removed from the vending machines.

There shouldn't be, but, as CBS News Correspondent Mika Brzezinski reports, there are.

And now, five months after the recall, many of these hazardous rings, pendants and bracelets are still being sold according to a Massachusetts state investigation. A random sampling found one in four contained enough lead to poison a child who ingested one. The result can be brain damage or even death.

But jewelry from vending machines isn't the only worry. CBS News took its investigation a step further to include jewelry purchased from several national stores like Claire's, JC Penney, Nordstrom, Sears and had samples tested. Most of the pieces contained potentially dangerous levels of lead.

But safety is not on the minds of most 10-year-olds like Shannon Awes and her friend Kate O'Donnell. They're just thinking, the sparklier, the better.

"I like shopping," says O'Donell. "I just pick out stuff that I like.

"I never really thought if it had lead in it or not."

"I would wear this one, this would be my choice," says Awes.

But who really does, asks lead expert Rick Maas. His own studies on children's jewelry found nearly half contained potentially hazardous amounts of lead. He says simply handling this jewelry can result in lead poisoning.

"Lead is not absorbed through the skin, but when a child handles an item like this and then later direct or indirect hand-to-mouth contact they will end up ingesting a lot of lead," says Maas.

Several of the stores where CBS News purchased jewelry indicated that customer safety was a priority. Responses ranged from removing the jewelry in question at Nordstroms, from Sears requiring proof from vendors that their products are lead-free. But a few also pointed to a lack of clear federal standards as a problem.

The government says it's conducting its own investigation to determine if new regulations are are required.