Mattel (och Fisher-Price) bötfällda 23 MUSD över bly i leksaker

Between September 2006 and August 2007, Mattel imported almost 900,000 toys that violated rules on lead levels. Its subsidiary toddler toys division Fisher-Price imported as many as 1.1 million. According to CNNMoney, now the corporation is paying the price.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (USA) states that the $2.3 million fine is the highest levied against a toy company. As we all well remember, the lead recalls caused panic among parents. Mattel's negligence in manufacturing had the collective consumer culture in Europe and US pointing a finger at China as the cause of problems. But it’s not only China.


Last year, the Healthy Toys site ran tests on 1,500 toys. They found that lead is still very much found in toys. This is regardless of where the toy is manufactured or how much they cost. 21 percent of toys from China and 16 percent of those from all other countries had detectable levels of lead in 2008.

Since our toy shops in Sweden are overloaded with Mattel (eg. Barbie dolls) and Fischer-Price toys, and you want to buy lead-free and/or non-toxic toys, here are some tips to help you look for those toys:
- Look for unfinished wood or natural finishes, such as beeswax.
- Buy hand-made and local.
- Buy organic toys whenever possible.
- Check out the Konsumentverket site and/or Healthy Toys site. Healthy Toys has both a Best Toys and Worst Toys list, which is mighty helpful.
- And to be more environmental friendly, look for toys that have as little packaging as possible.

(Image: cursed things on Flickr under a Creative Common License.)