Target Recalls Children's Toy Gardening Tools and Chairs Due to Violation of Lead Paint Standard

Recall Insight

This CPSC action (record #07309) was formally reported on September 26, 2007. It is classified under Moderate severity, with a current status of Active. Starite International Ltd., of Taiwan is listed as the recalling firm. Federal records indicate About 350,000 units are affected, a scale large enough to require multi-state distribution tracking.

The documented reason for this recall is: The surface paint on the recalled gardening tools and chairs contains excessive levels of lead, violating the federal lead paint standard. Distribution information was not included in the agency filing, so consumers should assume broad potential exposure until the firm publishes point-of-sale details. The remedy documented by the agency is: Consumers should immediately take the products away from children and return the item to the nearest Target store for a full refund. — consumers holding this product should act on that instruction rather than relying on general guidance.

To put this record in context, PlainRecalls indexes 83,949 recalls across the FDA, CPSC, NHTSA and USDA FSIS going back to 1995. Within the same product category, the database holds 6 closely related recalls, of which 6 were also issued by CPSC. That clustering is a signal — repeated actions in a narrow category often indicate a systemic quality-control issue, a supplier-wide contamination, or a design defect that has propagated across product lines. This recall is roughly 19 years old; older recalls can remain relevant because many units enter resale, rental, and secondary-market channels where the original warning never reaches the end user. Always cross-check the recall number against the official agency page before relying on any summary.