Also recalled were about 43,000 Sparkle City charm bracelets and tack pin sets sold at Big Lots stores from August 2005 through April 2007 for about US$1, the agency said.

The recalled charm bracelets have silver-colored star and butterfly charms, and clear and pink beads that hang from a silver-colored chain. The tack pins are silver butterflies or stars with clear and pink beads.

The CPSC said consumers should return the jewelry to the store where purchased for a full refund.

The CPSC recalls came as New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced on Wednesday that Big Lots, Michaels Stores and some other retailers agreed to stop sales of children's jewelry found to contain dangerous levels of lead as part of settlements with New York.

The settlements came after an investigation found high levels of lead in children's jewelry, Cuomo's office said.

His office said a national recall by the CPSC of lead-contaminated children's jewelry was based on Cuomo's investigation.

PENCIL POUCHES

The CPSC also issued two recalls for school supplies due to lead paint concerns, including about 84,200 children's pencil pouches sold by school supply distributors in schools nationwide from September 1997 through October 2007.

The Chinese-made products include "Stuff Keepers" pencil pouches and "Bear Pencil Pouches," with style numbers 63525 and 67221, respectively.

The other school supply recall involved about 20,000 shaving paint brushes sold by Discount School Supply's catalog and Web site from May 2004 through August 2007.

The recalled brushes were also included with the "BioColor Foam Paint Starter Kit" and "Colorations Foam Paint Starter Kit."

The CPSC also issued a recall of about 45,000 Chinese-made decorative stretchable aqua bracelets sold at various dollar stores, liquidators, and schools as part of fund-raising nationwide from September 2003 through April 2007 for between US$1 and US$12.

The recalled bracelets, which contain high levels of lead, are stretchable, with silver-colored square links and aqua-colored beads, the agency said.

Further, the CPSC issued a recall of about 38,000 Boppy slipcovers, which have a zipper pull that can break, posing a choking hazard to young children. The paint on the zippers also contains excess levels of lead, the CPSC said.