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Lead Paint Leads to Another Big Mattel Recall

Fisher-Price Locomotives, Bongo Drums, Barbie Accessories

By Truman Lewis
ConsumerAffairs.com

September 4, 2007

• California Warns Retailers On Lead • Mattel Settles Suits Over Dangerous Toys • Target To Pay $600,000 For Violating Lead Paint Ban • Tougher Safety Requirements For Children's Products Now In Effect • Toys 'R' Us Launches Unsafe Baby Products Awareness Program • New Safety Agency Chief Pledges Greater Openness • Obama Names New Consumer Product Safety Chair, Boosts Budget • Toymaker Fined $1.1 Million For Consumer Violations • Maryland Stores Stop Selling Toys With Lead Paint • Toymakers, Craftspeople Up In Arms Over New Safety Law • Thrift Stores Protest Ban on Lead Toys • Target Launches In-Store Recall System • Do's and Don'ts of Holiday Decorating • New Jersey Finds Recalled Toys in Four Stores • Mattel Agrees to Lower Lead Paint Levels in Toys • Consumers Cautioned About Dangerous Toys • Soon-To-Be-Banned Plastic Toys Flooding the Market • Safety Agency Warns of Safety Hazards in Cribs --- • More Consumer Safety News • Recall Notices

Giant toymaker Mattel is recalling another huge batch of toys because they contain excessive amounts of lead. This time it's Barbie accessories and Fisher-Price train locomotives and bongo drums that are being recalled.

It's the third big toy recall for Mattel this summer.

Early in August, the company recalled 1.5 million toys featuring Elmo and other popular characters because of fears they were contaminated with lead.

Later in August, the company recalled a "Sarge" toy cars because of high lead levels in the paint, as well as nine million other toys that contained tiny magnets that can be deadly if swallowed.

The toys containing magnets included the Barbie, Batman, Doggie Day Care and Polly Pocket line-ups.

The total number of items recalled by Mattel in the U.S. and internationally is thought to be about 19 million.

The latest recall is being announced jointly by Mattel and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

The CPSC has been the focus of increasing concern in recent years. It has had only two commissioners since ex-Chairman Hal Stratton, a Bush appointee, bolted the job with little warning on July 15, 2006, to become a lobbyist with a D.C. law firm.

The agency's budget has been shrinking steadily and staff size and morale are at a low points, agency insiders say.

Defective toy injuries increase

The latest recall follows a new study which found that the number of children injured by products recalled for fire- and burn-related hazards more than doubled in the last five years, in comparison with the preceding decade.

The study, conducted by the nonprofit organization Kids in Danger (KID), examined the 40 children’s products recalled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in the last five years for risk of fire and burns, and analyzed the recall process and its participants.

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