Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog

Speaking of the perils of the exposure of children to lead based paint, Mattel has announced its second recall in the last two weeks, this time of more than 9 million "made in China" toys because of injury and health risks posed by lead paint and reports of choking and intestinal damage that can occur from children swallowing the small magnets on some of these toys. The recall is the second initiated by Mattel in the last two weeks, and both recalls involve toys that were made in China. They are:

"Sarge" Die-Cast Toy Cars (from the Pixar movie “Cars”)

Batman Magnetic Action Figure Sets

With respect to the "Sarge" Die-Cast Toy Cars, it is worth nothing that the cars marked “Thailand” are not included in the recall. Chinese manufacturing and the acceptance of their goods here is taking yet another tumble. Apparently, days after Mattel identified his company as the manufacturer most implicated in the recall, the owner of the Chinese toy factory committed suicide.

While the risks associated with exposure to lead paint are extraordinary, these toys are likely not leading to the kind of exposure that would cause even mild brain injury. Mattel is appropriately being extra cautious on this front. But with respect to the magnets' risk, the fears are even more well-founded. In 2006, there was a similar recall for 3.8 million "Magnetix" sets. The sets consisted of tiny magnets that, if swallowed, caused intestinal perforation that can cause serious injury or death. There were 34 reported incidents involving the magnets, including one death and four serious injuries. As I wrote in my blog last year, this probably represents 3400 incidents because of underreporting. Before this recall, a 20-month-old boy tragically died after he swallowed pieces of a magnet that twisted his small intestine and created a blockage.

With pet food, toothpaste, seafood, and toys, this has been a bad year for Chinese manufacturers with respect to their credibility with the American public. These products are certainly cheap. The question now is are they safe?