Mattel and Toy Safety

While the prevalence of lead poisoning in children is decreasing in the United States, screening of lead levels remains an important task of the pediatric primary care provider. Risk factors for lead poisoning and its toxic effects include children under six years (and especially those between 12 and 36 months), inner city children living in deteriorating housing, low-income and middle-income children, and refugee and foster care children (Hurwitz & Lee, 2013a). The importance of this screening is underscored by the fact that children can be asymptomatic even with high blood lead levels (BLL) and symptoms of lead toxicity can be non-specific. Early diagnosis is crucial because there are significant and permanent effects to almost all body systems with both toxic and below toxic BLL, including neurologic (ranging from developmental delay and behavior problems to encephalopathy), hematologic (anemia), renal (lead nephropathy), gastrointestinal (lead colic), and endocrine (vitamin D deficiency) (Hurwitz & Lee, 2013a). Laboratory evaluation of lead poisoning in children will now be discussed.

The problem surrounding Mattel Inc. is their mismanagement of international subcontractors and vendors and the production of certain toys (the manufacturing process), as well as their inability to adapt their marketing strategy or product to the constantly changing “demographic and socioeconomic trends.” This is supported by Mattel’s legal battle with Carter Bryant and MGA, their forced recall of certain toys that were manufactured overseas, and the increasing rate at which traditional toys are becoming less appealing to today’s young audience. Essentially, Mattel’s mismanagement and oversight lead to violations in terms of ethical and social responsibilities and safety standards.

The biggest environment force affected Mattel recently has been legal and regulatory with the high levels of lead paint found in their die-cast toys in 2007. This issue created a voluntary recall from Mattel for over 2 million toys and created doubt in customers to the quality of their Mattel toys. Mattel responded by immediately implementing a check system to accept paint only from certified suppliers, tightened controls throughout the production process and testing every production run to ensure compliance. Mattel said that it is working in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and other regulatory agencies worldwide. Mattel is also working with retailers worldwide to identify and remove affected products from retail shelves.

Mattel is starting to take a step in the right direction, according to Renae Merle from The Washington Post, “Mattel said it was strengthening its process for preventing the use of lead based paint, it will only permit paint from certified suppliers and require every batch to be tested, company officials said” (Merle 1). 80% of toys in the United States are imported from China, according to Renae Merle, and 65% of those toys are created by Mattel. Although that is a step in the right direction, that still leaves 15% of the toys in the United States at a higher risk of having high traces of lead on them, going undetected. Stores like Toys ‘R’ Us that sell toys sold by companies other than Mattel, should be required to post the percentage of how much lead is in each toy directly next to or near the toy so that parents can be aware of this problem. If parents are not made aware of this problem, it is going to cause more concerns health wise. Michelle Albert, a stay at home mom of two children states that “I feel our country should be more careful about the things we import” (Albert 1). She fears that her children may have been exposed to these toys and has no way of knowing until it may be too late.

We have a large shipment of our elementary toy collection scheduled ship at the end of this week but have encountered a problem with the production. One of the products in this collection has failed the quality control testing exceeding the legal limits of lead set by the federal government. This shipment will be delivered to South American schools. As of August 14, 2011 the total legal lead content must not exceed 100 parts per million for a product (CPSC 2013). Our levels tested above these limits and require us to take action. To reproduce this product it will cost the company

Similarly, in the article, The Need for Vigilance: the Persistence of Lead Poisoning in Children published in Pediatrics, a peer-review journal, the authors write the article with the intent of reiterating the need for medical professionals to remain vigilant with the accurate treatment of lead poisoning. The article in Pediatrics is written by doctors for clinical professionals and is based upon a report of "a case of lead poisoning associated with ingestion of a toy necklace in a 4-year-old child" (Florin, T., Brent, R., &

The major sources of lead here were gasoline, paint chips and water from old plumbing. After lead was removed from gasoline and paint, blood lead levels (BLL) in children decreased on average from 16 mcg/dL to less than 3 mcg/dL. Residual lead persists in the environment, however. A toxic level is currently defined as 5 mcg/dL. In U.S. children age 1-5, the prevalence of BLLs >10 mcg/dL decreased from 88% to 4.4% between 1976 and 1994 and further dropped to 0.8% by 2010. Yet there are still almost half a million children in the U.S. with levels >5

Lead is poisonous because once it enters your body it can form into other atoms like zinc and iron fooling the body into thinking they are there and not carrying out the vital functions they need. Lead atoms can also block neurotransmitters. In the 1920s there was essentially a lead "boom" and marketers began putting lead in everything including shoes, lightbulbs, and leaded gasoline, advertising that it was safe and even kid friendly (in some items) when it wasn't. The lead levels in the factories became so bad that the workers were becoming sick, hallucinating, going mad, and dying from being poisoned by lead. Scientist Robert Kehoe was hired by GM to "cover up" the lead threats saying the amount of lead was a naturally occurring. No one cared about the use of leaded gasoline and other leaded materials until Clair Patterson began to dig deeper into the research of lead in the

When lead enters the human body, it is distributed to the brain, liver, kidney and bones. It is deposited in the teeth and bones where it accumulates over time. Exposure to high levels of lead may cause anemia, kidney and brain damage. Lead exposure can also cause miscarriage and infertility. The effects are even more severe in children. Lead can affect children’s brain development resulting in decreased intelligence quotient (IQ), shortened attention span and increased antisocial behaviour. At high levels of exposure, lead may attack the brain and central nervous system, causing coma. Children who survive severe lead poisoning may continue to suffer mental retardation and behavioural disorders. Furthermore, pregnant woman exposed to lead can

In the united states, Lead poisoning seems to be one of the most common and preventable environmental problem in children. When compared to the US borne children, Prevelance of this poisoing is 1.6%high in refugee kids.(2)

There are more than 4 million houses that have children that are being exposed to high levels of lead. Amongst these the number of children between ages 1-5 have blood lead levels > 5 micrograms per deciliter and are around half a million. It has been found out there no blood lead level that is safe in children and can be harmful to the body. This poisoning is a very serious problem but it is still curable. Children can suffer from neurological damage because of which they can have low IQ level and behavioral problems. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had recommended for public health actions to be taken on this matter.4

Lead exposure less than one hundred years ago had several exposure-sources to humans through many daily appliances, tools, homes, and substances. Gasoline, paint, water, and pottery were main environmental exposures of lead before the late 1970’s when the U.S. banned the use of lead in most of these sources. A number of developing countries still permit the use of lead on house appliances and pottery. Lead is associated in causing central nervous system effects, as well as other debilitating effects even when consumed with low levels. One of the most common environmental pediatric health problems in the U.S. is lead poisoning. In the 1980’s, approximately 4 million children exposed to lead had blood lead levels high enough to cause adverse

If you look through the federal rules concerning lead paint, you will see that the lion's share of defining standards are all about buildings inhabited by children. Aside from the obvious need to protect our children, this is because children are more susceptible to the effects of lead poisoning. For example, a child’s cerebral membrane is still largely permeable until the age of

Since Mattel’s products are now being imported into the U.S., several government agencies and laws have to be taken into consideration, of which pertain to both countries’ government, Chain and the U.S. Some of these agencies in the U.S. are the Consumer Product Safety Commission, whose job is to make sure any and all products that are entering the U.S. are safe for people. The acting commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety Commission was negotiating for broader testing and urged consumers to not overreact to the recalls. As for the safety aspect there is several differences between the two for lead. In China the government standard for lead products in the household, are to only contain 90 parts of lead per million in any product. In the U.S. the standard is allowed to be as high as 600 parts per million. The major difference is that the U.S. has banned the use of lead completely for toy products. As such in the U.S. the standards are held to high

MATTEL TOYS RECALL CASE STUDY Product  recall:   On  August  14,  2007,  the  U.S.  Consumer  Product  Safety   Commission  (CPSC)  in  cooperation  with  Mattel  announced  five   different  recalls  of  Mattel's  toys.  On  September  4,  Mattel   announced  three  more  recalls.  Some  were  due  to  the  use  of  lead   paint,  while  others  were  due  to  small  magnets  coming  loose.             On  August  2,  2007,  Mattel's  Fisher-­‐Price  subsidiary  recalled   almost  one  million  Chinese-­‐made  toys,  including  the