2008 Woodie Awards
Lead Paint in Chinese Toys
Mattel Issues Recall, Formal Apology to Consumers
By Emily Trudell
9/24/07 - News
Over the course of the last year, numerous recalls have been issued for items imported from China, including contaminated bath products, seafood with banned antibiotics, and other household products. Most notably, American toy company Mattel has recalled millions of Chinese manufactured toys found to contain unsafe levels of lead paint.
In order to protect consumers, a United States congressional committee was called earlier this month, and legislation was put into place to label any lead-contaminated product as a hazardous substance.
Lead has been found to cause exhaustion and flu-like symptoms in children. In severe cases, when victims are exposed to large amounts of lead, learning disabilities and death can result. Children are especially susceptible to lead poisoning due to their smaller size.
Cases of lead poisoning have become much rarer over the past few decades, since the substance was found to be dangerous. Medical officials reported that they were astonished after seeing the figures on the lead content of these modern toys.
This most recent recall included 1.5 million toys based on the much loved children's television characters from "Sesame Street," "Dora the Explorer" and also Barbie dolls. These toys were tested to contain an amount of lead paint equal to roughly 200 times legal levels. In fact, the paint on these toys were found to be an unacceptable 11 percent lead, or 110,000 parts per million. Legal levels of lead content in paint are only .06 percent, or 600 parts per million.
Considering that roughly 80% of the toy products on American market shelves are manufactured in China, Americans are becoming increasingly concerned with the quality of foreign goods. A national telephone survey conducted by Reuters recently showed that 35% of American consumers are "very worried" about the safety of Chinese imported products.
Executives from Mattel have since apologized to both the consumers and the Chinese people for the recalls. As vice president of worldwide operations Thomas Debrowski announced last week, "Our reputation has been damaged… Mattel takes full responsibility for these recalls and apologizes personally to you, the Chinese people and all of our customers who received the toys."
Luckily, no children have become sick from the lead paint in Mattel toys, but parents have been encouraged to check the product codes of their children's toys with the recall list on the Mattel website. Any toys that are found to be on the recall list should be returned to the store they were purchased at for a replacement or for a voucher. In fact, many retail stores such as Target and Toys 'R' Us have taken the initiative to inform customers about potentially dangerous toys and aid in the recall efforts.
Customers can also directly contact Mattel with concerns and questions.
Over the following months, Chinese and American officials have scheduled a number of meetings in order to discuss safety policies for Chinese-made products, and insure that consumers will be able to purchase safe imported goods in the future.
In order to protect consumers, a United States congressional committee was called earlier this month, and legislation was put into place to label any lead-contaminated product as a hazardous substance.
Lead has been found to cause exhaustion and flu-like symptoms in children. In severe cases, when victims are exposed to large amounts of lead, learning disabilities and death can result. Children are especially susceptible to lead poisoning due to their smaller size.
Cases of lead poisoning have become much rarer over the past few decades, since the substance was found to be dangerous. Medical officials reported that they were astonished after seeing the figures on the lead content of these modern toys.
This most recent recall included 1.5 million toys based on the much loved children's television characters from "Sesame Street," "Dora the Explorer" and also Barbie dolls. These toys were tested to contain an amount of lead paint equal to roughly 200 times legal levels. In fact, the paint on these toys were found to be an unacceptable 11 percent lead, or 110,000 parts per million. Legal levels of lead content in paint are only .06 percent, or 600 parts per million.
Considering that roughly 80% of the toy products on American market shelves are manufactured in China, Americans are becoming increasingly concerned with the quality of foreign goods. A national telephone survey conducted by Reuters recently showed that 35% of American consumers are "very worried" about the safety of Chinese imported products.
Executives from Mattel have since apologized to both the consumers and the Chinese people for the recalls. As vice president of worldwide operations Thomas Debrowski announced last week, "Our reputation has been damaged… Mattel takes full responsibility for these recalls and apologizes personally to you, the Chinese people and all of our customers who received the toys."
Luckily, no children have become sick from the lead paint in Mattel toys, but parents have been encouraged to check the product codes of their children's toys with the recall list on the Mattel website. Any toys that are found to be on the recall list should be returned to the store they were purchased at for a replacement or for a voucher. In fact, many retail stores such as Target and Toys 'R' Us have taken the initiative to inform customers about potentially dangerous toys and aid in the recall efforts.
Customers can also directly contact Mattel with concerns and questions.
Over the following months, Chinese and American officials have scheduled a number of meetings in order to discuss safety policies for Chinese-made products, and insure that consumers will be able to purchase safe imported goods in the future.
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