Houston – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Houston seaport have seized more than 6,000 children's backpacks and lunch bags after testing confirmed excessive lead levels.
The bags were seized in two separate incidents. In both incidents, the bags came from China and were destined for America.
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In the first seizure, CBP officers and a consumer product safety commission compliance investigator examined 1,500 children's backpacks and more than 4,000 lunch bags. They determined additional testing was warranted. Testing revealed lead in the metal zippers, ranging from 900 parts per million to 15,000 parts per million. The lead content threshold level under the Federal Hazardous Substance Act is 100 parts per million.
In the second seizure, test revealed excessive levels of lead in each backpack's component parts ranging from 200-3,000 parts per million.
All of the bags were turned over to CBP sized property for destruction.