New Mattel recall over toxic toys

Over 8 million toys have been recalled by Mattel in its second major product withdrawal in less than two weeks over safety fears.

Parents have been warned that more than 18.6 million toys sold globally might contain tiny, dangerous magnets or toxic lead paint. Lead can cause diarrhoea, vomiting and headaches in children and in large quantities can kill.

Mattel said 2.3 million produces are being recalled in the UK. The global withdrawal includes about 7.3 million Polly Pocket, Batman Magna, Doggie Daycare and Shonen Jump's One Piece play sets which contain small magnets.

Around 683,000 Barbie doll Tanner play sets also featured the magnets while around 253,000 Pixar Sarge die-cast toy cars have lead paint.

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission said it had hundreds of reports of magnets coming loose and said three children had swallowed more than one magnet. This causes a potentially-fatal intestinal blockage as the magnets attract each other.

Earlier this month, Mattel's Fisher-Price unit recalled about 1.5 million pre-school toys made by China-based contract manufacturer Lida Toy Co. They include products based on Sesame Street and Dora the Explorer pre-school characters.

The owner of Lida Toy Co, Zhang Shuhong, committed suicide last weekend after his export licence was suspended when the toys were withdrawn. His body was found in the warehouse of his Lida Industries company on Saturday.

Mattel has previously launched a national advertising campaign in the US to assure consumers it was on top of safety in response to rumours that it was about to recall products.

The full-page ad, included a letter from Mattel Chief Executive Bob Eckert in which he told parents "nothing is more important than the safety of our children".

"I am confident that the actions we are taking now will maintain that trust," he wrote.

More than 70 per cent of the world's toys are made in China, most of them in Guangdong province. In June, 1.5 million Thomas the Tank Engine products manufactured by the Hansheng Woodware company were recalled in the US.

© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.