One Million Toys Recalled Because of Tainted Paint

Fisher-Price is set to recall nearly a million children's toys because of "excessive amounts of lead" in paint used on the toys. The recall includes popular Elmo, Dora the Explorer, and other plastic toys.

The 83 types of plastic toys were manufactured in China, and sold in the United States between May and August. This is the first lead-paint associated recall for the toy manufacturer. The company's general manager said that the elevated lead levels were discovered during an internal investigation. Up to two-thirds of the toys were quarantined prior to them making it to the market place. This follows a recall of 1.5 million wooden toy trains and train parts which effected the Thomas and Friends toy line in 2005 and 2006. The train parts were also tainted by lead paint from the Chinese factory where they were manufactured. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is working to make the safety of Chinese-manufactured toys a top priority. A Yahoo report of the story is here. UPDATE: Reuters is reporting that China is reacting to the incidents, expressing concern that the reports of faulty products would lead to a negative perception of Chinese-made items. The Chinese officials are calling talk of protectionism "overstated" and "alarmist. However, the paint pigment is only one part of what has been a string of Chinese-related consumer problems, including the recent dog-food scare and deaths in Panama that were related to chemicals in Chinese-made cough syrup.