More Fisher-Price toys recalled for lead contamination

10/25/2007
ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON Mattel Inc. recalled an additional 38,000 Go Diego Go! toys today as part of a larger recall of 665,000 lead-contaminated children s products, the government said.

The nation s largest toy maker issued two major recalls in August for lead-tainted toys and toys with small, powerful magnets that can cause intestinal perforations if swallowed. At the time of the worldwide recall of 18.6 million toys, Mattel chief executive Bob Eckert predicted more recalls as a result of stepped-up oversight and testing.

Today s recall involved orange and yellow Go Diego Go! Animal Rescue Boats, manufactured in China and imported by Fisher-Price. According to Mattel there were 38,000 affected toys in the U.S., 12,000 in Great Britain and 5,500 in Canada, for a worldwide total of 55,500.

Surface paint on the boats contain excessive levels of lead. Several Diego toys were included in the August recall of 1.5 million Mattel toys.

Lead is toxic if ingested by young children. Under current regulations, children s products found to have more than 0.06 percent lead accessible to users are subject to a recall.

Consumer Product Safety Commission spokeswoman Julie Vallese said the recalls are due to the increased scrutiny promised earlier this summer.

The CPSC, as well as manufacturers, continue to look for products that may violate the lead paint standard, she said.

Mattel spokeswoman Lisa Marie Bongiovanni said the Diego boats were discovered as part of retroactive testing on products shipping out of Asia that were put on hold after the August recalls.

The CPSC also announced recalls of 627,000 other Chinese-made toys from various manufacturers that are contaminated with lead. The other toys include football bobble head cake decorations, Halloween pails, Shrek the Third and Spider-Man 3 flashing rings, children s jewelry and toy gardening tools.

Vallese reminded parents that the effects of lead are cumulative and that the biggest risk to children remains lead paint in homes.

Representatives from Fisher-Price were not immediately available for comment.

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