Mattel Recalls One Million Toys

The recall, the second biggest this year involving toys, covers 83 different products, manufactured between April 19 and July 6. Many of them feature “Sesame Street” and Nickelodeon characters — including the Elmo Tub Sub, the Dora the Explorer Backpack, and the Giggle Gabber, a toy shaped like Elmo or Cookie Monster that toddlers shake to hear giggles and funny noises.

Mattel says it prevented more than two-thirds of the 967,000 affected toys from reaching consumers by contacting retailers, like Wal-Mart, Target and Toys ‘R’ Us, late last week. But more than 300,000 of the tainted toys have been purchased by consumers in the United States.

Mattel is hardly the first manufacturer to encounter a breakdown in the Chinese production chain. In recent months, factories in China have been sources of poisonous pet food sold in stores in the United States, dangerous car tires, and lead paint on the popular Thomas & Friends wooden toys. The Chinese government has said it is working to improve its product regulations, even as members of Congress have called for legislation requiring more inspections of imports from China.

This is Mattel’s 17th recall in 10 years. Most recently, an infant swing made by its Fisher-Price division was taken off the market because of a risk children could be trapped in its moving parts. And in its largest consumer action involving toy safety, in 1998, the company recalled more than 10 million Power Wheels cars.

Speaking of the new recall, Nancy Nord, acting Consumer Product Safety Commission chairwoman, said in a statement, “These recalled toys have accessible lead in the paint and parents should not hesitate in taking them away from children.” The statement said that the commission had launched an investigation and that “ensuring that Chinese made toys are safe for U.S. consumers is one of my highest priorities and is the subject of vital talks currently in place between C.P.S.C. and the Chinese government.”

Earlier this summer, RC2, the maker of Thomas trains, recalled 1.5 million trains and accessories because a Chinese supplier had coated them in lead paint. At that time, consumer safety experts and toy industry analysts said that Mattel was unlikely to face such a problem.

more from NY Times