Jackson, MS--Attorney General Jim Hood along with 37 other states have reached a settlement agreement with Mattel, Inc. and Fisher-Price, Inc., its subsidiary, resolving a 16-month long investigation into the events that resulted in a voluntary recall of the companys toys for excessive lead paint during 2007.

The agreement, filed today in Hinds County Chancery Court, First Judicial District, requires Mattel to make a payment of $12 million by January 30, 2009, to be divided among the participating states. Mississippi will receive $213,399.00, which will be used to reimburse investigative costs and for consumer education on the issue.

“The Mattel executive or employee responsible for quality control who sold these toys with lead paint levels in excess of 100,000 parts per million, when the maximum federal level was 600 parts per million, should have gone to jail,” said Attorney General Jim Hood.  “However, due to Governor Haley Barbour’s veto of the Children’s Product Safety Act passed by the Legislature this past Spring, we have no law with which to prosecute.  We will reintroduce that bill again this year.”

From August 2, 2007 through October 25, 2007, the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recalled approximately two million Mattel and Fisher-Price toys manufactured in China, alleging that the toys contained excessive lead in accessible surface coatings. At the time of the recalls, the CPSC standard permitted for lead in accessible surface coatings was 600 parts per million (ppm). Lead levels taken of the recalled toys uncovered that levels not only exceeded the federal standard, but in some instances, contained as much as 110,000 ppm.  Lead is highly toxic, particularly to young children.  There is no safe level ,and even small amounts can cause serious neurological damage.  Lead exposure is cumulative such that multiple sources of exposure compound the negative health effects in children.
The agreement reached by the Attorneys General includes more stringent standards for accessible lead both in surface coatings and substrates, effective for toys manufactured after November 30, 2008. For example,
the accessible surface coating of a toy manufactured after the November 30 effective date cannot exceed 90 ppm. Likewise, each accessible substrate in or on a finished product cannot exceed 300 ppm total lead for products manufactured after the effective date.  That level will be further reduced to 100 ppm after August 14, 2011.  Mattel must also keep, and require its vendors to keep, records on file for at least four years concerning the manufacturing of surface coatings and substrates used on its products. Mattel must also report to the Attorney General, within three days, if it discovers excessive lead in its products and work with the Attorney General to remedy such violations. Mattel is responsible for notifying the Attorney General and all affected consumers of any and all recalls due to lead content.

“As a father of three, this issue personally concerned me, particularly here at the holidays,” said Attorney General Hood.  “Our nation’s toymakers must be held accountable and they must make serious changes that reduce the amount of lead in our children’s toys.  That was the purpose of this agreement.”

Since the Attorneys General first contacted Mattel in August 2007, Congress has enacted the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) which also provides more stringent standards for lead in surface coatings and substrates, starting in February 2009.

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Click Here to visit the US Consumer Product Safety Commission’s website for more information on lead contaminated products.