MATTEL. FISHER-PRICE. THOMAS THE TRAIN. ELMO.
Common names in America’s households and also warm, safe, trusted names.
Not any more.
A rash of toy recalls over the past few weeks should make parents sit up and take notice. Just because a toy is from a well known manufacturer doesn’t mean it couldn’t be unsafe. And if you need proof, you can go online and do a search for toy recalls or specifically ‘china toys recall’ and you’ll see personal stories of parents and families whose children have been harmed, primarily by lead paint used by some Chinese toymakers.
The question is, did the toy company in the US know that their Chinese contractors were ignoring lead paint standards? This will be a subject of investigation in coming months. Of course the US companies are saying they weren’t aware. Mattel had stopped doing its own paint tests on toys from one of their main Chinese manufacturers because of a ’15 –year relationship’ with the Chinese company. They admit this was a mistake. (Of course it was, since one million toys from their Fisher Price line alone had to be recalled due to lead paint levels.)
China produces 80% of the world’s toys, so as a parent, it would be difficult to keep China-made toys out of your kids’ hands. So the course of action needs to be: Hold the US toy companies, and the US government, accountable and responsible for ensuring safe toys on the shelves of our stores.
The Mattel recall comes on the heels of a recall involving 1.5 million Thomas the Tank Engine wooden railway car toys tainted with lead paint. Lead paint can be toxic if ingested and can cause developmental problems in children.
China does have laws banning lead paint in toy production. And their Prime Minister is sending the word out that 99% of China’s toys are good quality and safe. That this is isolated to a very small percentage of toymakers. But with even a handful of toy producers disregarding the laws, the volume of unsafe toys being sent to America and all over the world is still high.
And even if Chinese companies do care about safety, the fact is – as with many (most) things- it’s all about money and profit. See this excerpt from an online news article generated by the Associated Press:
The toy industry, along with other businesses, has moved so much manufacturing to China, in order to cut costs, that it remains exposed to problems despite laws and efforts on the ground to contain them. Public-health experts say Chinese manufacturers repeatedly revert to lead paint regardless of the rules because it is cheap and readily available, and helps factories meet relentless pressure to contain costs. Such violations slip through because of regulatory gaps in both nations.
Now consider that US toymakers are dependent on China for toys and the cost of moving production elsewhere would be too great for them to bear.
So what does this mean for us as consumers? It means what the McGee family learned in the hardest possible way. It means what the Shane McGee Foundation stands for. It means that you cannot trust that products that you buy from big, well-known American manufacturing companies are safe. You must be vigilant. You must be, at all times, an informed consumer.
If you have any questions about the toy recalls, go to www.cpsc.gov. If you have any of the recalled toys, throw them out immediately. If you have other toys that you are worried about, you can try a home lead test kit, but again, if you are in doubt, its best to throw the toy out. Avoid buying cheap vending machine toys as they are often coated in lead paint.
If you have children, make sure that you have their blood tested for lead annually.
Lastly, all these recent recalls have caused a ground swell of support for legislation for tougher, more-standardized product testing for toys made in China. Get involved and make your voice heard to your elected leaders. Continue to check back at www.shanemcgeefoundation.org, www.consumersunion.org, and www.cpsc.gov for continuing information on legislation.