Federal police say they seized about $38,000 worth of “potentially dangerous” playground toys at the Port of Savannah.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations at the port seized 1,320 Wel-Bilt Little Diggers, a child’s backhoe-like digger found in some sandy playgrounds, that were discovered to be coated excessively with lead paint, said spokeswoman Melanie Mataxas. The merchandise had an estimated manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $38,152.96.
The merchandise arrived into the port on Oct. 28 from East Asia. The Consumer Product Safety Commission requested that CBP officers examine the shipment. During that examination, preliminary field tests on the samples found the toys to contain unacceptable levels of lead paint, Mataxas said.
Samples were shipped to the CPSC laboratory, which confirmed the dangerous levels of lead paint.
Working with CPSC investigators, CBP officers seized the shipment under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act.
“The seizure of these extremely dangerous imported toys illustrates how the tremendous teamwork and cooperation between the Consumer Product Safety Commission and U.S. Customs and Border Protection protects the American public from potentially serious health and safety issues,” said Lisa Beth Brown, CBP port director for the area port of Savannah.
Consumers should call CPSC’s toll-free hotline at 800-638-2772 or visit CPSC’s website to report dangerous products or to learn about product recall information.