New alert for lead-tainted costume jewelry - CBS 5 - KPHO

New alert for lead-tainted costume jewelry

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PHOENIX (CBS5) -

Some Halloween costumes are supposed to be frightening, but not because of what they might do to your health.

A new alert by the Center for Environmental Health warns of dangerous levels of lead and cadmium in some costume jewelry.

The alert says that New York based Rubie's Costume Company, through its Forum Novelties division, is breaking the California consumer protection law by selling the tainted products in their stores.

The same products are legal to sell in Arizona, but Debbie Easley from Easley's Fun Shop says she would pull the products off her shelves if proven unsafe.

"I realize they are products not intended for children but I realize as adults we do leave things laying around," said Easley.

CBS 5 tested one of the items listed in the CEH alert, the Big Daddy costume bracelet.

The lead test we used did not indicate the presence of lead, though the product could still contain cadmium.

Easley said she has known the owners of Rubie's for years and said if they are selling dangerous products then she believes it is unintentional.

"It either had to be an accident, maybe old products somebody had. It would never be an intentional thing they would do they're not that kind of people," said Easley.

But CEH says Rubie's has been selling these products in California knowing full well that they are contaminated with unsafe levels of lead and cadmium.

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