The latest warning brings the toll to 10 million U.S. toys.

Pennsylvania - New Jersey - New York - Nationwide

By Jeff Gelles
Inquirer Staff Writer
August 15, 2007

Consumer Product Safety Commission recalls

Two weeks ago, it was lead paint on Ernie, Elmo and Big Bird, and on other toys representing beloved Sesame Street characters.

Yesterday, it was lead paint on Sarge toy cars, and swallowing hazards from Polly Pocket play sets, Batman action figures, and Barbie and Tanner play sets.

All told, toxic lead and swallowing hazards led Mattel Inc. to seek the return of nearly 10 million toys in the United States yesterday in five separate recalls. In addition, the company is recalling about 9 million toys outside the U.S. On Aug. 2, Mattel's Fisher-Price Inc. subsidiary recalled nearly one million of the Sesame Street-character toys. Like the toys recalled yesterday, all were made for Mattel in China.

What's going on with children's toys? On talk radio and in the blogosphere yesterday, the Mattel recalls raised new questions about two of the most trusted names in the U.S. toy industry, the state of U.S.-China trade relations, and the ability of U.S. parents to keep their children safe.

Mattel moved aggressively to stem further criticism.

The Segundo, Calif., company blamed a Chinese subcontractor for the lead-painted Sarge cars depicting a character from Pixar's Cars movie. Mattel said that, in response, it had "immediately implemented" new control systems to keep lead paint out of any products it sells in the future.

Mattel portrayed the remainder of yesterday's recalls - all involving toys with magnets that may come loose and be harmful if swallowed - as part of a stepped-up effort to make its products safer. In a statement on its Web site, the company said it was "deeply apologetic to everyone affected by the recall."

Consumer advocates welcomed Mattel's moves, but continued to call for tighter safety rules, especially for children's products. They said product recalls were too little, too late, because damage has already been done.

"The harm is already out there in the marketplace. Children have already played with these toys and put these toys in their mouths," said Rachel Weintraub, director of product safety for the Consumer Federation of America.

Nor does a recall end the problem, because only a fraction of recalled products are ever returned.

"From our perspective, this is all backward. The likelihood of their getting even a million of these nine million toys back is pretty slim," said Nancy Cowles, executive director of Kids in Danger, a nonprofit group that pushes for improved safety standards for children's products.

Cowles warned against blaming Chinese manufacturers for the problems, particularly those stemming from the magnets that come loose.

"This is not an issue of these products' being made in China. It's an issue of design, which starts with the American manufacturers," Cowles said.

"Even with lead, we believe it's Mattel's responsibility. If they're putting their name that consumers have so much trust in on products, they need to make sure that the products don't have lead in them. It's a very simple test, and it should be done automatically," she said.

Mattel said yesterday that it was taking that and other steps urged by product-safety advocates.

Under its new system, Mattel said it was requiring that every batch of paint be tested before use, tightening production controls, and increasing unannounced inspections. In addition, the company said it was now "testing every production run of finished toys to ensure compliance."

Although Mattel said no new injuries had been reported involving the toys recalled yesterday, at least three children have needed surgery because of injuries caused by one of the products: the Polly Pocket dolls and accessories.

Yesterday, Mattel recalled about 7.3 million of the Polly Pocket sets in the United States, on top of a recall nine months ago of 2.4 million Polly Pockets. At the time, Mattel said the three children had suffered perforated intestines after swallowing magnets from the sets.

The 1/8-inch-diameter magnets come embedded in the dolls and their accessories and pose a particular risk if more than one is swallowed, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which announced all the recalls.

Once ingested, the magnets can attract one another and cause potentially fatal perforations or intestinal blockages, the commission said. The agency said Mattel had received more than 570 reports of magnets coming loose.

Mattel said yesterday's magnetic-toy recalls, which cover toys made between January 2002 and January 2007, were "based on a thorough internal review of all of our brands that have toys with magnets." In January, Mattel implemented a redesign that locks the magnets into place.

"We believe all of our toys with magnets should have the safety benefit of our new standards," the company said.

A toymakers' spokesman urged consumers to keep the recalls in perspective.

"A recall like this is part of the safety system," said Carter Keithley, president of the Toy Industry Association. "It affects only a tiny proportion of the three billion toys sold in the United States each year."