Bed Bath and Beyond tissue holders recalled after being found contaminated with radioactive cobalt

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 4:03 AM on 15th January 2012

Bed Bath and Beyond Inc is recalling tissue holders because one of its materials emits low levels of radiation, the company said on Friday.

The California Department of Public Health said Friday the boxes called 'Dual Ridge Metal Boutique tissue boxes' with the model number DR9M, contain radioactive cobalt-60.

According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRD), there is no health threat from the item, the company said in a statement.

Recall: Bed Bath and Beyond is pulling a metal tissue holder that was sold online and on the shelves of 200 of its stores

The holder has been sold since July in about 200 of Bed Bath and Beyond's 1,000 stores in the United States and Canada and through its website, it said.

The holder 'contains a material which emits low levels of radiation,' the company said.

'The NRC has also informed us that the material is believed to be in the tissue holder itself and cannot be inhaled, nor can it contaminate other objects (such as tissues).'

The item has been pulled from the stores and from the website.

The radioactive material was discovered January 5 when radiation alarms were triggered during a check of a truck at an inspection station, said California Highway Patrol Assistant Chief Frank Parrish. The truck was bound for the retailer's stores in Santa Clara and San Jose, California.

Chief Parrish said the discovery was made by a radiation monitor that he described as 'able to detect any type of radioactive material and is extremely sensitive.'

Does it glow? Federal authorities say the tissue holder contains trace amounts of radioactive cobalt but it is not dangerous

He would not say where the inspection was held over concerns that truckers would use alternate routes to avoid inspections.

After the discovery, the CHP notified the California Department of Health Services.

The department said as part of a voluntary nationwide recall, the boxes have been pulled from shelves in all of the 21 California stores where Bed, Bath & Beyond sold the product.

Cobalt-60 is a man-made product that is typically used to sterilize medical products or for cancer radiation therapy.

The material contained in the tissue boxes poses no immediate health threat, according to the CDPH and federal officials.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said that scrap metal containing the cobalt-60 could have strayed into a metal load smelted in India and been incorporated into the tissue boxes.

Source : dailymail

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