Mattel recalls more toys over lead-paint concerns

NEW YORK — The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), in cooperation with Mattel, announced another recall of lead-tainted toys from China late Tuesday, its third such announcement in about a month.

The recall of Fisher-Price and parent company Mattel-brand products includes more than 800,000 Barbie accessories, including lead-tainted puppies and cats, GeoTrax trains and toy bongo drums. All were sold within the past year.

Children can get lead poisoning from sucking on or swallowing toys or jewelry with lead. Lead can cause learning and behavior problems and even death.

Under current regulations, children's products found to have more than 0.06 percent lead accessible to users are subject to a recall.

The recall comes as relations between Mattel and the Consumer Product Safety Commission are strained by disagreement on when product hazards are to be reported. Mattel paid civil penalties of $975,000 this year for failing to report incidents with the Fisher-Price Little People Animal Sounds Farm and $1.1 million in 2001 for not telling the agency soon enough about fire hazards with Power Wheels ride-on vehicles.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Mattel Chief Executive Officer Robert Eckert said he disagrees with CPSC's rule that hazards need to be reported to the agency typically within 24 hours. According to the story, Eckert said Mattel prefers to do its own investigations first.

Eckert said Tuesday night he thinks "there are vagaries in the law," specifically when it says CPSC has to be promptly notified when a product "could" be hazardous. That, he said, could require "the benefit of hindsight." He said Mattel does "pass along" reports of injuries and incidents to CPSC, but the "debate is over what's timely."

CPSC spokeswoman Julie Vallese said Tuesday, "The reporting obligation is extremely clear, and the same rules apply to any company, big or small."

Eckert said subcontractors used by its suppliers violated its prohibition on lead paint, which has been banned in children's toys since 1978.

Mattel's last recall, announced Aug. 14, covered about 19 million toys worldwide. They included Chinese-made toys that either had excessive amounts of lead paint or had small magnets that could easily be swallowed by children.

On Aug. 1, Mattel's Fisher-Price division said it was recalling 1.5 million preschool toys featuring characters such as Dora the Explorer, Big Bird and Elmo because of lead paint. That action included 967,000 toys sold in the United States between May and August.

Eckert warned last month that there may be more recalls of tainted toys as the company stepped up investigations into its Chinese factories and retested products.

Still, Tuesday's announcement is another blow to Mattel.

With more than 80 percent of toys sold worldwide made in China, toy sellers are nervous that shoppers will shy away from their products in this year's critical holiday season.

In June, toy maker RC2 voluntarily recalled 1.5 million wooden railroad toys and set parts from its Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway product line. The company said surface paint on certain toys and parts made in China between January 2005 and April 2006 contains lead, affecting 26 components and 23 retailers.

In July, Hasbro recalled faulty Chinese-made Easy Bake ovens, marking the second time the toy had been recalled this year.

Last month, Mattel vowed it would tighten controls at its factories in China. About 65 percent of Mattel's toys are made in China, where about 50 percent of Mattel's production is produced in company-owned plants.

But apparently, the controls were not strict enough, particularly when it came to overseeing Mattel's subcontractors.

"We've now tested all the toys we're making in Asia," says Eckert. "This system is in place and working."

Asked if there will be any more recalls soon, he added, "Never say never."

Complete list of recalled products: cpsc.gov