A kid’s coin purse is the kind of small thing that ends up everywhere — a backpack, a jacket pocket, the bottom of a bag you haven’t cleaned out since spring. Nobody thinks twice about it. That’s exactly why this recall is worth a minute of your attention.
About 2,100 Primark coin purses with a 101 Dalmatians print are being recalled. The reason is a chemical level, not a choking part or a broken zipper.
Here’s what the testing found, and how to get your money back if one’s floating around your house.
What the purse is, and what’s wrong with it
It’s the 101 Dalmatians faux leather children’s coin purse, model number 2595301 — black, with a dalmatian print, “101 Dalmatians” on the front, and the model number on the tag by the zipper. Primark sold it for about $9, in stores across the Northeast plus Florida, Maryland, and Illinois, between March and June of this year.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission recall notice says testing found phthalate levels in the purse above the legal limit. Phthalates are chemicals used to soften plastics and faux leather. At high enough levels, they’re linked to developmental and hormone effects in young children. The real concern is a child mouthing or chewing on the purse, not simply holding it.
Where this one is different from a toy recall
This isn’t about a small part breaking off or a sharp edge. The purse itself is intact and working exactly as designed. It’s what the material is made of that failed the standard. No injuries have been reported. The recall exists because the product didn’t pass the legal chemical limit, not because a child was already harmed by it.
One more thing worth knowing: Primark issued a separate recall of a similar-sounding 101 Dalmatians purse in the UK back in September, over a different chemical finding from a different regulator. This US recall is its own, distinct notice, not a repeat of that one.
What to do with it
Stop letting your child use the purse right away, and keep it out of reach. Bring it back to any Primark store for a full refund in your original form of payment — no receipt drama required, according to the notice. If you have questions, Primark’s recall line is 617-946-3236, weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern, or you can go through primark.com/recall. The CPSC’s own hotline, 800-638-2772, is there too if you’d rather go straight to the source.
The part worth remembering
You can’t chemically test every small thing that comes into your house, and you shouldn’t have to. Nine dollars at checkout doesn’t come with a warning that something’s wrong at the material level. That’s the regulator’s job, and this time it did it. Catching this one wasn’t on you.
If it’s in your house, it’s an easy fix: out of the bag, back to the store, refund in hand.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Womens Overview editors prior to publication.