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Thursday, August 21, 2008

Lamorinda Moms Club

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Scouts recall lead-tainted badges Print Email
Dec. 7th, 2007 -- The plastic badges with blue and yellow paint look innocent enough, but the Pioneer Valley Council Boy Scouts of America isn't taking any chances.

The square totem badge with the slogan "Progress Toward Ranks" was recalled by the national Boy Scouts of America in October because the Chinese-made badges have an excess of lead paint in them. Since then, the local council, based in Chicopee, has placed a sign on its door, posted a notice on its Web site and met with area pack masters to make sure local Cub Scouts know to turn those badges in for new, safe replacements.

"Child safety is always our main concern, so I'm glad we found out about it and can now take steps to correct it," Lawrence A. Bystran, executive director of the Pioneer Valley council, said today. "I feel confident that national Boys Scouts of America was able to get word out very quickly to local councils. They've supplied us with new replacement components."

There are about 1.5 million of the plastic badges, officially packaged as Cub Scout Immediate Recognition Kit Item 01804, in circulation. The badges are distributed by the Georgia-based company Kahoot Products, Inc.

The national Boy Scouts of America recently tested 94 products made in China in light of the recent recalls of Chinese-made toys and other products. The totem badges were the only items found to have lead levels in excess of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission standards.

"When we discovered the lead level we contacted Kahoot and they ordered the recall," said Gregg K. Shields, national spokesman for Boy Scouts of America, based in Irving, Texas. "We're going through our inventory of all the products that are painted. Safety is our primary concern."

The totem badges are optional and are worn by Cub Scouts on their shirt pocket. The young boys, who are usually in grades two and three, hang beads from the badges when they complete a task on their path to earning Wolf and Bear rank badges.

The recalled badges are slowly being turned into packs and the local council headquarters. New replacement badges just became available. A "Turn It In To Win!" raffle has been established to encourage Cub Scouts to return their old badges. Every Cub Scout who returns their badge can be entered into a raffle for a new BMX bike.

For more information on the recall, go to www.pvcbsa.org.