Eye Injuries Lead Target to Recall Embark Resistance Cord

About 447,000 Embark Resistance exercise cords sold by Target have been pulled from the market to be repaired following reports of eye injuries and vision loss. 

The Target Embark Resistance Cords recall was announced on September 8 by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) after Target received information that at least three consumers were struck in the eye by the door anchor ball of the exercise device. Two of those consumers were blinded and the extent of injury to the third is unknown.

According to the CPSC, a black plastic ball attached to the Embark’s door anchor can unexpectedly release, potentially hitting the user and posing an injury hazard.

The recall affects all Embark brand individual resistance cords and cord kits. The cords are made of rubber resistance bands in green (light tension), blue (medium tension) and black (heavy tension), with black foam handles and a door attachment, a plastic ball serving as a door anchor and a nylon webbing strap. Each resistance band has “Embark” printed on either the black strap attached to the foam handle or in the middle of the rubber resistance band. The Embark cord kits contain one each of the three types of resistance bands. They have Target Item Numbers of 082-02-0256, 082-02-0261, 082-02-0388, and 082-02-0398.

The Embark Resistance Cords and Cord kits were sold at Target stores nationwide as well as online at Target.com from July 2009 through August 2011 for between $10 and $20.

The CPSC recommends that consumers stop using the devices immediately and either remove the door anchor strap before continuing to use them or contact Target at (800)440-0680 in order to receive instructions on how to repair the cords to prevent the possibility of eye injury.