PAINTS, crayons and pencils containing substances which could make children seriously ill are on the shelves ahead of the Christmas shopping blitz.
Eleven popular brands had been found to carry excessive amounts of lead, barium, chromium and antimony, the Consumer Council warned yesterday.
Some of the goods remained in shops, in spite of last year's enforcement of a law ordering that children's paints comply with British safety requirements for such heavy metals.
The products were water colours, pastels, crayons and colour pencils under the brand names Mitsubishi, Pentel, Sakura, Panda, Lion, Aruna, Colleen, Three Star, Horse and Disney and poster colours under the Flying Eagle brand names.
The council said some manufacturers were putting children's health at risk by not withdrawing the items from sale.
The heavy metals could cause kidney damage, heart problems and muscle contractions, the head of the Customs and Excise Department's Trading and Standards Investigation Bureau, Andrew Wong Ching-wai, said.