Children's Fishing Poles Recalled by Zebco Due to Violation of Lead in Paint Standard

Recall Insight

This CPSC action (record #09166) was formally reported on March 25, 2009. It is classified under Moderate severity, with a current status of Active. W.C. Bradley/Zebco Holdings Inc., doing business as Zebco Brands, of Tulsa, Okla. is listed as the recalling firm. Federal records indicate About 2,700 units are affected.

The documented reason for this recall is: The paint on the reels of these fishing poles 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 fishing poles from children and contact Zebco for information on receiving a 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. 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 17 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.