March 24, 2006: Boy's death prompts lead-bracelet recall

Reebok is recalling the bracelets after a Minneapolis 4-year-old swallowed one and died Feb. 22 of lead poisoning.

By Glenn Howatt, Star Tribune

Last update: March 23, 2006 - 11:19 PM

Juanna Graham suspected something was wrong because her 4-year-old son Jarnell Brown was unusually lethargic.

"He would just lay there on the couch. He would not get up," she said Thursday. "I knew something was not right."

She took the boy to the hospital, but by then it probably was too late. He had swallowed a charm bracelet that contained enough lead to fatally poison him, and died Feb. 22 at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis.

When tests were done at the hospital, the lead level in Jarnell's blood was three times higher than what health officials consider dangerous.

No one is quite sure when Jarnell swallowed the bracelet, a trinket given away with the purchase of a pair of Reebok shoes.

"He probably swallowed it several days earlier," said Dr. Harry Hull, state epidemiologist. "This thing is pure lead. The [stomach] acid dissolves the lead."

Jarnell's death sparked a nationwide recall Thursday.

The 8-inch-long silver-colored bracelets have a heart-shaped charm with the Reebok name on one side.

About 300,000 boxes of shoes sold since May 2004 contained the bracelets. It is not clear how many were sold in Minnesota. Stores are being asked to pull the bracelets from boxes and consumers are urged to dispose of them.

Although exposure to lead is documented to cause learning, growth and behavior problems in children, products such as children's toys and costume jewelry containing lead are still manufactured and sold.

"I would like to tell the other parents, be careful," said Graham of Minneapolis. "You would never think that anyone would make a bracelet out of poison."

"I thought that lead was just in older things," she said. "You wouldn't think it would be in something like this."

But since 2003, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued about a dozen lead warnings on products that were sold in gumball machines and at large retailers. The products often include costume jewelry, such as rings, necklaces, earrings and bracelets.

"Several cases of poisoning have been reported but this tragedy is the worst by far. No one has ever died that we know of," said Lara Cushing, research director of the Center for Environmental Health in Oakland, Calif.

In January, the nonprofit group settled a lawsuit it and other organizations filed against 70 retailers and distributors. The settlement created new standards for the amount of lead in children's toys and trinkets sold in California.

"Our settlement is very clear, if there is much lead in the product you can't sell it, period," said Cushing. While the agreement is limited to California, Cushing hopes it will force changes in other states. Among the companies agreeing to the standards were Target, Kmart, Macy's, Nordstrom, Sears and Disney Stores.

Although the federal government has guidelines, companies are not forced to act until they discover that a product contains more lead than is allowed.

"They are not drawing a clear line in the sand," Cushing said of the federal guidelines. "They are issuing some voluntary guidance with no teeth."

Reebok spokeswoman Denise Kaigler said the company is investigating why it distributed a bracelet with such a high lead content.

"What has happened to this young child and what this family is dealing with is horrible," she said. "We want to make sure that consumers around the country and around the world are aware of this potential danger."

In Minnesota, most cases of lead poisoning in children are connected to lead-based paint.

Because children don't show signs of poisoning until they are very sick, health officials urge that all children to be tested for lead, especially if they live in Minneapolis or St. Paul, live or spend time in older homes or are on Medical Assistance.

"I don't want this to happen to another child," said Graham. "My son won't come back."

Glenn Howatt • 612-673-7192

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