The US Consumer Product Safety Commission and toy giant Mattel have announced a recall of about 850,000 China-made toys worldwide due to excessive amounts of lead paint.

 

The recall covers 11 types of toys and includes various Barbie accessories and Geo Trax Locomotive and Big Big World 6-in-1 Bongo Band toys from the firm's Fisher-Price brand.

It is the third major recall in five weeks by the US toy giant, the world's largest toy maker.

 

Mattel recalled about 19 million toys worldwide on August 14, covering China-made toys that either had excessive amounts of lead paint or had small magnets that could easily be swallowed by children.

On August 1, the company's Fisher-Price division recalled 1.5 million preschool toys featuring characters such as Dora the Explorer, Big Bird and Elmo, because of lead paint.

Robert Eckert, Mattel's chairman and chief executive, had warned at a press conference last month that there may be more recalls of tainted toys as the company stepped-up its investigations into its Chinese factories and retested products.

 

Recall information

Mattel's international consumer assistance

In another blow to Mattel, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission said on Tuesday it was considering a possible investigation of whether Mattel notified authorities as quickly as it should have in connection with the August 14 recall.

 

With more than 80 per cent of toys sold worldwide made in China, toy sellers are nervous that shoppers will shy away from their products in the forthcoming holiday season.