Bed, Bath & Beyond recall tissue holder over radiation concerns

[Pathfinder]

Bed, Bath & Beyond Recall Over Radiation Concerns

By Julia Dunn - email
January 13th, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) ? Metal tissue holders contaminated with low levels of radioactive material may have been distributed to Bed, Bath & Beyond stores in more than 20 states including New York, federal regulators said Thursday.
...
McIntyre said the company had received shipments of the tissue holders in July, August and December, but that only the December one ? which contained 220 of the boxes ? was determined to have contaminated products. He said the company is still trying to determine whether the other shipments had contaminated products.

Authorities said the tissue holders contain manmade cobalt-60, which is used in medical devices and for other industrial applications.

Full text:
http://www.wggb.com/2012/01/13/bed-bath-beyond-recall-over-radiation-concerns/

 

[Emily]

Re: Bed, Bath & Beyond recall tissue holder over radiation concerns

I wonder if the NRC is in charge of these problems now? I hope so, since the 2009 discovery was handled more chaotically. At least now this company is recalling the product. I wish all importers were required to scan for tainted metals. They should be doing that voluntarily.

http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/43576

Radioactive cheese grater case shows lack of oversight
Submitted by SHNS on Wed, 06/03/2009 - 13:38

By ISAAC WOLF, Scripps Howard News Service
national


Who is in charge of protecting Americans from products made from radioactively tainted metal?
The answer: No one.
Officials with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, all said their agencies are troubled by the spread of contaminated metal and items made from it, a Scripps Howard News Service investigation shows.
Several of the agencies play a tangential part in grappling with the issue. But none have the authority to do much about it. As a result, no national accounting exists of the scope of the problem. No one agency is in charge of reporting, tracking or analyzing incidents involving tainted metal products, or in making sure they are properly disposed of.

And when such an incident occurs, the absence of that oversight becomes clear.
Case in point: The discovery late last summer of a radioactive EKCO cheese grater at a Flint, Mich., scrap plant. The Chinese-made grater was laced with the isotope Cobalt-60, and was giving off the equivalent to a chest X-ray every 36 hours.
Estimated to have been in circulation for as long as a decade, the grater likely was four to five times more radioactive when it was made....

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Bed, Bath & Beyond recall tissue holder over radiation concerns

State Health Officials Announce Removal of Contaminated Tissue Box Holders

• Versi?n en espa?ol

ALBANY, N.Y. (January 12, 2012) -- State Health Commissioner Nirav R. Shah, M.D., M.P.H., announced today that state and local health officials have confirmed that twelve (12) metal box tissue holders containing low levels of cobalt-60 radioactive material were identified and removed from the shelves at four (4) Bed, Bath and Beyond stores in New York State.
Bed, Bath and Beyond has indicated that no other stores in New York have received shipments of these items. However, the product has been available on Bed, Bath and Beyond's website, it has now been removed from the web as well. The product is Dual Ridge Boutique model, model number (DR9M).

Bed, Bath and Beyond has posted information on these products on www.bedbathandbeyond.com. Customers can also call the company at 1-800-462-3966.

Shah said that the products were not distributed to the public at the New York stores and there are no reports of prolonged exposure or illness resulting from contact with the products.

Cobalt-60 is a man-made product that utilizes the element cobalt. It has many uses, including sterilizing medical equipment and is a source for leveling devices and thickness gauges used during the production of metal products. It has been used many years in radiation therapy for cancer patients.

The level of radiation exposure from holding this product against body for one hour would be equivalent to a chest X-ray.

On January 10, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) notified Bed, Bath and Beyond and State health officials that the shipment of metal box tissue holders was found to contain the radioactive material. Bed, Bath and Beyond pulled the product from their sales floor.


The New York store locations are:

• 950 Merchants Concourse, Westbury
• 25 Waterfront Place, Port Chester
• 251 Tarrytown Road, Elmsford
• 340 Walt Whitman Road, Huntington Station

DOH, the NYS Office of Emergency Management (NYOEM) and local health officials visited the four stores and confirmed that all twelve boxes are secured.

"State Health Department and other State agencies are working closely with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Bed, Bath and Beyond, and local health officials to ensure consumers are safe," said Commissioner Shah.

Any questions from customers should be directed to Bed, Bath and Beyond at 1-800-462-3966.

http://www.health.ny.gov/press/releases/2012/2012-01-12_contaminated_bbb_tissue_holders_removed.htm