How Capitalism Will Give Your Kids Lead Poisoning
Posted by
Kevin
So Illinois finds a toy that has too much lead in it and informs the company, Mattel in this case, and Mattel takes it off the market. In Illinois, and only in Illinois:
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 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.
… Consumer Reports magazine discovered lead in the armband of the toy blood-pressure cuff in November and notified the attorney general in Illinois, where there are stricter lead standards, including limits in plastic. State officials found that the cuffs contained 4,500 to 5,900 parts per million of lead, roughly eight times the federal limit for lead in paint.
In December, Mattel recalled the toy in Illinois and began accepting it back from any retailer or customer nationwide who called a toll-free number.
But it did not recall the toy nationwide, nor did it widely publicize the problem as would have been required in a national recall. The company’s recall page on its Web site does not include information about the toy.
I have two questions. First, does anyone believe that Mattel is not recalling these toys for any other reason that it would cost the money? Second, why is the CEO of Mattel not in jail? They have been told that the toys contain more than eight times the federal levels of lead, have been forced to remove the toy from one state and yet they still refuse to recall the toy nationwide. Since they can make more money poisoning children than saving them, the toy stays on the shelf. This CEO is scum, pure and plain and simple, and in a decent society he would be facing poisoning charges. In our society, Congress has to beg him to stop poisoning children.
Link via Consumerist.
