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Michaels Stores Inc., Big Lots Inc. and several smaller retailers have agreed with New York state authorities to discontinue the sale of children's jewelry found to contain dangerous levels of lead.

The move comes as product safety has been in the spotlight in the wake of high-profile recalls of pet food, toothpaste, snacks and most recently toys. Many products associated with the recalls were made in China.

The state attorney general's office said Michaels, a Texas crafts retailer, and Big Lots, a closeout retailer based in Ohio, have agreed to put in place a number of safeguards to ensure lead-contaminated products are kept off their shelves. Lead is toxic if ingested by young children.

The attorney general's office said it performed lead-detection tests on children's jewelry purchased from a variety of businesses located in Albany, Buffalo, Syracuse, Long Island and New York City. About half of the items tested contained excessive amounts of lead with some containing more than a thousand times the level identified by federal regulators as safe.

Most of the jewelry was made in China, some was from Thailand and India, and some had no clear record of where the items were manufactured, said a spokesman for the office.

Big Lots agreed to pay a $1,000 penalty under the settlement. Michaels Stores, owned by Bain Capital Partners and Blackstone Group LP, doesn't have to pay a penalty.

The attorney general's office said Michaels also has amended its vendor policy to require suppliers to certify their compliance with federal and state laws prohibiting the sale of hazardous children's products and to expand its lead testing to a wide range of products.

Michaels said it acted promptly to remove all products with suspected lead content when it learned of the attorney general's probe. The company said it has fully cooperated with the investigation. Big Lots didn't immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

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