Lawmakers: Mattel Broke Word on Lead

0

Dozens of members of Congress sent a letter Tuesday to the chief executive of Mattel, accusing the company of not living up to its promise to keep lead-tainted toys out of children’s hands, the New York Times reports.


The letter was prompted by Mattel’s decision not to issue a nationwide recall of a blood-pressure cuff in a toy medical kit sold under the Fisher-Price brand. The legislators said they were disturbed by the company’s “lack of action.” Lead was found in a plastic part of the toy, and current federal laws ban lead only in paint on toys. Lawmakers are considering a law to limit lead in all material in toys.


The letter, signed by 56 members of Congress, quoted Mattel’s chief executive, Robert A. Eckert, as saying in September that the company “will do the right thing.”


“We challenge you to live up to your words,” it said, “and set a standard for the entire industry by completely eliminating the use of lead in all the children’s products manufactured by Mattel.”


The company said that its tests of the cuffs found “higher than anticipated” levels of lead, but added that the toy met American and European standards. The lead hazard was present only in the red and green version of the blood-pressure cuffs.


A Mattel spokeswoman said she did not know exactly how many toys were affected, but it was in the “order of magnitude of thousands.”



Read the full New York Times story

. (registration required)

No posts to display