US to China: Get the lead out

by Linnea Kirgan, August 16th, 2007, 7:14 am

Mattel announced this week that it was recalling millions of dangerous toys made in China.  Sound familiar? It’s the second recall this month related to lead paint for the world’s biggest toy maker.  (Mattel also has recalled millions of toys containing potentially hazardous small magnets.)  

Mattel may be the unlucky winner of the largest Chinese-manufactured toy recall so far this year, but it’s hardly alone. Children’s jewelry containing high levels of lead were recalled in July. In June RC2 recalled 1.5 million Thomas & Friends toys due to lead paint used in the products.  Some Chinese-made bibs were also flagged this week as having potentially harmful lead content.

This has been an unsettling year for US businesses and their Chinese factory counterparts, as well as for consumers.  Chinese factories were allegedly the source of tainted toothpaste and tainted ingredients in pet food distributed in the US. China supplies some 80% of toys in the US.

With holiday shopping sales on the line, Mattel’s CEO Bob Eckert addressed consumers directly in a video podcast on the company’s Web site, pledging improved surveillance and testing in its toy production facilities as well as promising to test each batch of paint delivered to every vendor. The company is also considering shifting work away from its contractors and subcontractors and toward its own facilities where operations can be more closely monitored. The fact that Mattel, which is known in the industry as having strict safety standards, ran into trouble is a sign of the severity of the problem.

While acting Consumer Product Safety Commission head Nancy Nord said it’s not acceptable for lead to be found in toys entering this country, her agency has been hard-pressed to make changes to the system. The CPSC has been without a permanent chairman and quorum, which it needs to sue a manufacturer or take other action, according to the Washington Post.

No surprise that DC lawmakers have jumped into the fray. Sen. Dick Durbin has asked US toy makers and retailers to voluntarily submit to third-party inspections of Chinese manufactured products. Durbin and Sen. Bill Nelson have also written legislation to mandate third-party inspections of Chinese-made goods. 

In the meantime, parents can always experiment with avoiding all toys made in China, like this mother did. Her son ended up playing with European-made Legos, and not much else.