Consumer Agency Recalls ‘Punky Witch’ Costumes

HARTFORD — The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection issued a recall of a girl’s “Punky Witch” Halloween costume after finding Walgreen’s stores violated federal lead standards, Consumer Protection Commissioner Jerry Farrell, Jr said October 23.

“These costumes are scarier than they should be,” Cmmsr Farrell said. “We found that the rivets decorating the outfit have twice as much lead as allowed by law, qualifying them as a banned hazardous substance. We’ve removed all ‘Punky Witch’ costumes from Walgreen’s stores in Connecticut and have referred the issue to the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission.

“These costumes are now banned from sale in the state, and I urge anyone who may already have purchased the ‘Punky Witch’ costume to return it to Walgreen’s for an exchange or refund.”

The costume’s metal rivets violate the lead threshold of 300 parts per million (PPM), Mr Farrell said. Between July 1, 2009 and July 1, 2011, any child’s product with greater than 300 PPM total lead content by weight for any part of the product is a banned hazardous substance.

After July 1, 2011, the allowable level of lead will drop to no greater than 100 PPM total lead content by weight.

“These tougher standards are being enacted because in essence there is no truly safe amount of lead in any child’s product,” Cmmsr Farrell said. “Manufacturers are going to have to use other, safer, compounds in the manufacture of children’s products.”

The recalled costume was sold statewide at Walgreen’s stores and imported by East West Distributing, a Walgreen-owned company. Department of Consumer Protection inspectors removed all 51 “Punky Witch” costumes that they found across the state.