Giant retailer WalMart was forced to pull its Miley Cyrus line of children’s jewelry from its shelves after high levels of the toxic metal cadmium were found. WalMart has known of the high cadmium levels since February but chose to continue to sell the product. However, when nationwide reports began to surface, WalMart finally decided to do the right thing for its customers. The Miley Cyrus make-it-yourself charm bracelets were big sellers for WalMart which defended its decision to keep selling the toy by requiring suppliers to prove that the children’s item had little or no cadmium. WalMart did not apply that high standard to items already on its shelves. In response to inquiries at a hearing of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, WalMart said testing the items itself would be too difficult.
Cadmium had no good effects on human health. High level cadmium levels irritate the stomach leading to vomiting and diarrhea. Ingesting cadmium has also been linked to high blood pressure, iron poor blood, liver, kidney, nerve and brain damage. Breathing cadmium can severly damage the lungs and cause death.
WalMart was finally forced to stop selling the defective products after extensive reporting of the toxic nature of the toys. It appears they continued to sell the products which are specifically marketed to children because of the lucrative sales resulting in big profits. Although the defective toys have been pulled from the shelves, how many children have already been exposed to the toxic cadmium? We need to have better testing and approval procedures BEFORE these imported products reach American consumers.
Richard J. Arsenault, 2011
