DALLAS (AP) — The Boy Scouts of America said Thursday that a painted, plastic badge commonly worn by some of its youngest scouts is being voluntarily recalled after a test revealed high levels of lead in the paint.
As many as 1.6 million of the badges, which are made in China, may be affected by the recall.
“We’re doing everything we can,” Boy Scouts spokesman Gregg Shields said.
The plastic totem badge is given to Cub Scouts, who are usually between the ages of 7 and 8. The badge has a yellow and blue border, includes a picture of a bear and wolf and reads “Progress Toward Ranks.”
No illnesses have been reported, Shields said.
The unacceptable amounts of lead were discovered during a testing of Boy Scouts products, Shields said. He did not know the level of lead the test revealed.
The recall came the same day that the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced recalls of more than a half-million other Chinese-made products because they contain dangerous levels of lead.
The badges are supplied by Kahoot Products Inc., based in Roswell, Ga. The company is calling for a voluntary recall of the badge and asking parents to take them away from their children.
A phone message left with the company Thursday was not immediately returned.
Kahoot has supplied the badge to the Boy Scouts, based in Irving, Texas, for about eight years, Shields said. About 20,000 kits containing the badges have been sold each year since, he said.
The Boys Scouts are continuing to use Kahoot, which supplies 39 products to the organization. Shields said Kahoot has “acted responsibly in initiating this voluntary recall.”
Shields said the badge was the first of 94 Boy Scouts products tested to come back positive for lead. More products are being tested, he said.
Originally published October 5, 2007
AP Photo/Boy Scouts of America
This undated photo provided by the Boy Scouts of America shows a common badge awarded to Cub Scouts that is being recalled amid concerns of dangerous levels of lead. A Boy Scouts of America spokesman says a supply of plastic totem badges, usually given to Cub Scouts between the ages of 7 and 8, contained unacceptable amounts of lead during product testing. No illnesses have been reported.
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