Two years after a Minneapolis boy died of lead poisoning after swallowing the charm from a bracelet he got with a pair of Reeboks, the athletic shoemaker has agreed to pay a million civil penalty levied by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The fine, announced today, is the largest ever for a violation of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA) and follows the CPSC's recall of 300,000 Reebok bracelets in March 2006. It also follows months of increased scrutiny for the CPSC after a record number of recalls in 2007, including recalls of toys and children?s jewelry. The penalty settles allegations that Reebok International, based in Canton, Mass., imported and distributed charm bracelets that contained toxic levels of lead. The bracelets were given away as a free gift with various styles of children's footwear from May 2004 to March 2006. Parts of the bracelet, imported from China, turned out to be 99 percent lead. Jarnell Brown, 4, of Minneapolis died on February 22, 2006 after swallowing the heart-shaped charm. According to a report on the Star-Tribune.com newspaper Web site, Jarnell suffered vomiting, seizures and respiratory arrest before dying at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis. "I just don't believe my son is gone because of some shoes," his mother, Juanna Graham, told the newspaper. The bracelet was recalled a month after his death. ?This civil penalty sends a clear message that the CPSC will not allow companies to put children?s safety at risk,? said CPSC Acting Chairwoman Nancy Nord in a press release. ?Preventing dangerous metal jewelry from reaching the hands of children is a priority for our agency." Congress is in the process of finalizing legislation that would, among other changes, significantly lower lead levels in toys and other children?s products, require pre-market product testing, and strengthen the CPSC?s ability to stop dangerous products before they reach store shelves. In the settlement, signed last week, Reebok denied violating federal law. Many recalls of lead-tainted toys and jewelry have followed the Reebok recall. There were so many in 2007 alone that it was dubbed the "Year of the Recall." And as we reported in January, the CPSC this year has been investigating whether any companies should be fined for those safety breaches. Scott Wolfson, a CPSC spokesman, said that consumers should expect to see more penalties this year. In addition to its size, the fine was unusual because the CPSC infrequently issues fines for an actual violation. Fines are more commonly the result of a company's failure to report hazardous products and not the violation itself. And although the CPSC currently lacks the quorum that?s normally required to levy civil penalties, a seldom-used provision in their laws allowed the Commission to delegate their authority to the Office of Compliance, which pulled the trigger on Reebok. We now wonder if there are more civil penalties to come against companies such as Mattel/Fisher Price and RC2, which brought millions of lead-laden toys to market last year.