Too high lead levels
Massive recall of plastic toys
13.08.2007 |Sascha Gabizon
By Eoin Callan in Washington
Published: August 2 2007 01:58 | Last updated: August 2 2007 03:49
Fisher-Price, the US toy maker, is recalling more than 1m toys made in China because their paint may contain too much lead, marking the latest in a string of recalls that have fuelled US-China tensions over the safety of Chinese products.
The worldwide recall involves plastic pre-school toys, including replicas of popular children's television characters such as the Cookie Monster, Elmo, Dora and Big Bird, which were manufactured in China and coated with paint that contains excessive amounts of lead.
The largest product recall for the company in almost 10 years comes amid widespread concern about the potential dangers of Chinese exports, sparked by a series of safety scares involving products ranging from pet food to toothpaste.
By Nicole Maestri
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mattel Inc. is recalling 1.5 million Chinese-made toys worldwide because their paint may contain too much lead -- the latest in a deluge of product safety scares that have tainted the "made in China" brand.
The recalled toys made for Mattel's Fisher-Price unit include popular preschool characters like Elmo and Big Bird along with dozens of other items.
They were made by a contract manufacturer in China using a non-approved paint pigment containing lead, Mattel said on Wednesday.
Lead paint has been linked to health problems in children, including brain damage.
Mattel is asking U.S. consumers and sellers to return 967,000 plastic toys and is recalling another 533,000 from other countries, including Britain, Canada and Mexico.
Mattel's senior vice president of worldwide quality assurance, Jim Walter, said the recall could hit all its markets and traced the problem to a single manufacturer.
"The disappointment here was we had a single contract manufacturer that we had a long-standing relationship with, who did not do what is required by Mattel," Walter said.
The recall comes amid heightened concern worldwide about the safety of China's exports. Many of the previous problem products have involved smaller manufacturers, but now a major company in a sensitive sector has been hit.
"Nobody wants to face that PR nightmare," said Kent Kedl, the Shanghai head of Technomic Asia, which advises companies sourcing out of China. "But the reality is that things slip through the cracks. And the cracks are a little bit bigger here in China." Continued...
Please note that lead is categorized as a heavy metal, but not a POP.
Over this next year we may see more discussions on heavy metals, especially mercury and possibly lead and cadmium, due to recent developments in the UNEP governing council.
I would also like to remind IPENers interested in mercury issues to join the recently established IPEN Mercury Working Group.
Please email Jennifer (jenniferfederico@ipen.org) if you are interested in joining the group, as presently they are working on a draft IPEN position for an upcoming mercury discussion in November.
