ZRecs readers nationwide rallied to search for a onesie sold at Target stores to corroborate findings by Z Recommends and the Center for Environmental Health, leading the Attorney General of the state of California to request that Target stop selling the onesies and investigate the product for a potential recall. It's a story we can hardly believe long enough to tell, because it reflects such an amazing outpouring of community effort among the readers of a consumer blog. It also isn't over yet - Target hasn't even responded publicly to the announcement of the findings, and we're curious to see if more government pressure (hello, CPSC) is required to force them to do the right thing. Here's the full story so far - and what's coming next.

We have been purchasing and sending onesies to the Center for Environmental Health for the past month, which they have been testing with an XRF scanner for heavy metals content in the inks used in the tagless labels. This effort grew out of our investigation of cases of infant rashes due to tagless garment labels, which we've been reporting on for the last year, and which we aren't through with yet. All of the labels came out clean for any banned levels of heavy metals, except one - a Target house-brand onesie (Circo) with "Green Baby" printed on the front. (Ah, the irony!) After the onesie we sent CEH scanned as having over 1,000 ppm lead content (over three times the legal limit), they bought up as many as they could find in the Bay Area, ending up with seven onesies, and although they thought another 13 more would best help confirm their findings, they were tapped out of local stores to check for the toxic onesie. So CEH's Charles Margulis asked us if we could find any more.

"We've already checked our local stores," I told him. "But I bet our readers can come up with some."

We put out the call on Z Recommends on November 20 and the response was even swifter and stronger than we could have hoped. Within 48 hours over 100 readers had written in for details with a promise to check their local stores. That weekend, readers found fourteen of the Green Baby onesies and shipped them at their own expense to CEH.

Some readers wrote in to tell us that our reporting had helped them get hundreds of dollars back from Carter's for onesies they no longer trusted. Others told us they had always wanted to be a bigger part of our research and advocacy, and they finally had a chance. The outpouring of interest, passion, and no-nonsense "how can I help?" were humbling and inspiring.

By the time CEH had received and tested the first seven Green Baby onesies that had arrived in the mail and all showed the same consistently high lead levels, they raised the matter with the attorney general's office. He told them to send on the XRF data they had and he'd send the letter to Target that day. He also sent it to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, who we anticipate will be contacting Target about this issue if they don't call the CPSC first.

Here's CEH's own account on the findings.

Bay Area CBS radio affiliate KCBS has an interview about this case with CEH's Charles Margulis.

Again, for us the real story here is how ZRecs readers came together to find these onesies and send them in for testing. If it hadn't been for those of you who had the time and inclination to step forward, this onesie probably would never have been confirmed to be hazardous and would not be on the road to a CPSC recall.

I'd like to quickly address a few reader questions we've received about this onesie.

How can I tell if the onesie I have violates the lead standard?
All Circo "Green Baby" onesies tested showed the same high levels of lead. Visual identification of this onesie (gray with green and blue printed on the front) should be sufficient.

What's the risk of harm from this product? What should I do if I have one?
The lead is contained in the ink used in the tagless garment label, which will be rubbing directly against a child's neck when they wear the garment. We consider this to be significant lead exposure. Irritations from other, yet-unidentified chemicals in certain tagless garments make it clear that whatever is in a garment is getting into an infant's system, so we don't know why lead would be any different. Set it aside and do not use it. Save it for a likely recall - you'll be able to get your money back, or a replacement garment, at that time.

Where was this onesie manufactured?
According to the tagless label, in Bangladesh.

Are other Circo-branded onesies a risk for high lead content?
We had every color of Circo tagless label we could find tested by CEH, and they only found high levels of lead in this particular garment. All others were also made in other countries - this was the only one we found labeled as made in Bangladesh. In other words, we do not have any evidence that any other Circo onesies are a risk for high lead levels.

Why would Target carry a product that contained high levels of lead?
Target has had a lot of problem with lead in children's products. They recently agreed to pay $600,000 in fines for "knowingly import[ing] and [selling] multiple toys with paint or other coatings containing illegal amounts of lead from May 2006 to August 2007," and Target was found to have several more lead-violating products on the shelves earlier this month.

What can I do to avoid lead-containing products at Target?
Avoid products without well-known brand names, and avoid Target-branded (Circo) goods.

What can I do to show Target I'm upset about their lead record?
Sign this petition, and follow it up with action. If you have the onesie, take it back, bring a printout of CEH's post on the subject, stand at the counter, and make a little noise if they refuse the return.

What else did CEH find in the clothing you sent for testing?
The data on that is a little more complex, but very interesting. CEH's testing helped us identify just what lab tests we should most seriously consider for the Carter's onesies we're investigating, and also identified a few garments with worrisome ingredients that are not banned. Soon we will publish the full results of this XRF testing for a variety of brands, along with some buying recommendations based on the findings. We'll also be publishing our analysis of over 100 tagless garment infant injuries reported to the CPSC. Stay tuned.