Mattel recalls over 800,000 toys worldwide because of lead paint

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Mattel Inc. announced its third major recall of Chinese-made toys in little more than a month, including 675,000 Barbie doll accessories, because of excessive amounts of lead-tainted paint. The recall announced Tuesday is the latest blow to the world's largest toy maker as the critical holiday shopping season approaches. The action, the details of which were negotiated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, involves a total of more than 800,000 units, Mattel said in a statement. The latest recall covers 90,000 units of Mattel's GeoTrax locomotive line and 8,900 Big Big World 6-in-1 Bongo Band toys, both from the company's Fisher-Price brand. The Big Big World products were sold in the US from July through August of this year, while the GeoTrax toys were sold from September 2006 through August of this year. Mattel's last recall, announced on Aug. 14, covered about 19 million toys worldwide. They included Chinese-made toys that either had excessive amounts of lead paint or had small magnets that could easily be swallowed by children.