Lead Found In Halloween Costumes

HARTFORD — The State Department of Consumer Protection is asking the attorney general’s office to take legal action to stop K-Mart and other stores from selling Halloween costumes with labels that have been covered to conceal a lead content warning.

Consumer Protection Commissioner Edwin R. Rodriguez said the costumes were originally packaged with the warning label “WARNING: This product contains lead, a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.”

Connecticut does not require a warning label on clothing or costumes that contain lead; California does. “But once the warning is affixed to the product, there is no good reason to remove or conceal,” Commissioner Rodriguez said. Investigators found the warning labels had been hidden with black tape or crossed out, he said.