Report: Some fidget spinners contain high levels of lead

CBS News reports that one brand of a toy known as a fidget spinner contains dangerously high levels of lead.

While the toys are already the topic of choking hazard warnings by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, now the US Public Interest Research Group says one of the toys sold at Target contains dangerously high levels of lead.

CBS News says:

The Fidget Wild Premium Spinner Brass tested at 33,000 parts per million for lead -- some 300 times the 100 parts per million allowable for children's toys. The lead level in another model, the Fidget Wild Premium Spinner in Metal, tested at 1,300 parts per million.

But Target and the manufacturer say that particular spinner is recommended for ages 14 and older, meaning that CPSC lead restrictions do not apply, as products marketed to people over the age of 12 have no specific lead-level requirements.

"The Consumer Product Safety Commission has reviewed and explicitly defined fidget spinners as 'general use products.' They are not defined by the CPSC as toys," Target spokesman Lee Henderson said in a statement to CBS News.

Kara Cook-Shultz, toxics director at the US Public Interest Research Group, said no matter of how the CPSC may classify the toys, they’re marketed as toys for children.

Cox Media Group