How Safe Are Your Toys? Mattel Recalls 83 Toys

How safe are your children's favorite toys? Not as safe as you might think. Mattel, a major producer of children's toys, in conjunction with the U.S. Consumer Safety Commission placed a recall on August 2, 2007 on eighty-three (83) of its products, resulting in the pulling of a total of 967,000 toys. These products are Sesame Street, Dora the Explorer and Diego themed. The recall is due to the contract manufacturing of these toys in China, where a non-approved paint pigment containing lead was used. Although Mattel quickly ended production of the toys, and managed to pull many of these products from the shelves there is an estimated number of 300,000 toys unaccounted for.

Mattel states that it considers the use of lead based paint to be a "serious mistake," and is conducting an investigation into how the "mistake" occurred*. Contract manufacturers are required to use paint from pre-approved and certified suppliers. In this particular case the procedures required of the contracted manufacturer were not followed. This particular contract manufacturer had a long standing relationship with Mattel and should have been aware of their regulations and procedures. Mattel has several procedures and regulations in place in an effort to create safe products, including independent audits of facilities as well as ownership of several of the factories in Chine. In the event that the investigation reveals that safety measures were knowingly ignored Mattel states that it will take "immediate and appropriate action.

Lead based paint has been proven to cause severe health problems for children and adults alike. The majority of cases involving injury or death are to do lead based paints in older homes. However, the most common way for children to have been exposed to the risk of lead poisoning is through "mouthing" their toys. Almost all children have to taste their toys at some point in time - it's part of their exploration.