Health officials are trying to track down six metal tissue box covers sold at the Bed, Bath and Beyond in Sunset Hills after reports they might be contaminated with a radioactive substance.

The tissue covers pictured were sold in 200 of the company's 1,000 stores and through its website since July. The company pulled the boxes from shelves but is trying to recover an unknown amount that were sold to customers.

There were 12 of the tissue box covers (model DR9M Dual Ridge Metal Boutique) delivered to the store at 10770 Sunset Hill Plaza. Six of the covers have been recovered, and the other six are believed to have been sold since July.

The Sunset Hills location was the only store in Missouri to receive the box covers, according to state health officials. It is unknown if any stores in Illinois sold the products.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported that the products may contain cobalt-60, a radioactive substance. A spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the low levels of radiation emitted from the tissue holders do not pose a health risk.

The spokesman said the company received shipments of the tissue holders in July, August and December, but that only the December one - which contained 220 of the boxes - was determined to have contaminated products.

The contamination was first discovered in California when two packages bound for Bed, Bath and Beyond stores triggered radiation alarms at truck scales. The products were manufactured in India, according to a Maryland environmental alert.  

On its website, Bed Bath and Beyond said they were advised that any radioactive material could not have been inhaled or transferred to tissues.

The boxes in question should be returned to the store for a refund. More information is available at www.bedbathandbeyond.com or by calling 800-462-3966.