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September 5 2007And it just keeps coming. Today Mattel announced that they are recalling another 800,000 toys after they recalled an estimated 13.4 million toys in August in the US alone. Affected toys are various Barbie® Accessory Toys, Geo Trax Locomotive Toys and Bongo Band Toys. If you think you have one of the recalled toys you can go to http://www.uspirg.org/toy-safety/mattel-return for directions on returning the toy. Meanwhile, the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) is investigating Mattel. The WSJ reports that while the CPSC requires manufacturers to report potentially hazardous problems within 24 hours and Mattel took months to gather information on 3 major cases since the late 1990s. Mattel said "it should be able to evaluate hazards internally before alerting any outsiders." It doesn't quite inspire confidence, does it? And while Mattel announced that these recalls are the results of a 3 stage safety check and rigorous testing of the paint used on their toys, it's much like closing the barn door after the horses have escaped. It's also fixing one very specific problem. What about magnets? What about other potentially toxic chemicals like phthalates? What about power wheels that catch on fire? And increasingly it seems like we can't rely on the government to protect us. The CPSC is currently headed by industry-friendly officials. The New York Times reports that those officials have "blocked enforcement actions, weakened industry oversight rules and promoted voluntary compliance over safety mandates." They investigate only 10-15% of reported injuries or deaths linked to consumer goods. Even though they issued a record number of recalls (471) last year, those products shouldn't have ended up on our shelves in the first place. So I think we should call on Mattel and other major toy companies to have a
more comprehensive testing program, and not just test for the "hazard of the
moment." But what do you think? 1. The Washington Post reports that U.S. manufacturers are increasingly exporting goods, including toys and pacifiers, that do not meet domestic safety standards. Some consumer-advocacy groups agree that allowing U.S. manufacturers to export goods that do not meet U.S. standards not only puts foreigners at risk but also hurts the United States' ability to force other countries to comply with its rules. It "knocks us off any 'world's safety policeman' soapbox we claim to own," said Edmund Mierzwinski, consumer program director for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. "It places foreign consumers at risk from our dangerous products." Read More... 2. On a happier note, state lawmakers in California sent Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger "controversial, landmark legislation" Tuesday that would make California the first state in the nation to prohibit the manufacture, sale and distribution of toys and child care products that contain certain phthalates. Phthalates are a group of chemical compounds, mainly used to add flexibility to plastics, that are being linked to diseases and disabilities. Read More... If you live in California take action to urge Gov. Schwarzenegger to sign this bill! 3. Voluntary recalls (get details
here ) To tell you friends and family about the U.S. PIRG Toy Safety news
digest click here. |
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