This major recall due to excessive amounts of lead, affected not only the US market, but China, Hong Kong, Canada, Australia, Spain and other European countries. The CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) instructs that the toys should be taken away from children immediately.
The lead paint on more than 80 Mattel toys did not come to light until a European retailer reported the problem. Even small amounts of lead are harmful to children as they could build up in the body, cause brain damage and could prompt to poor development, irritability and agitation that last through a lifetime.
So how can such a thing occur? I do not know the testing procedure that Mattel and/or Fisher Price follow however something like this could have been prevented by testing the raw materials in the pre-production phase but also through intervention testing (test of random samples throughout the mass production phase of manufacturing). This is the easiest way to ensure that not only harmful contents are detected, but also that these sort of contaminants are kept away of products. These sporadic and continuous testing ensures that manufacturing partners and factories abroad comply with the specifications set during development and prior/during/post production.
Testing should cover anything from Physical and Mechanical requirements to flammability and/or migration of elements. There are other substances that can be harmful to kids besides lead. Elements such as Antimony, Arsenic, Barium, Cadmium, Chromium, Mercury and Selenium can also be extremely dangerous to kids and even adults. These are considered under ASTM F963 in sections 4.3, 5.2 and 8.3.
There are some European Standards (EN-71) that are even more stringent than our domestic ASTM standards that go as far as eliminating a DEHP, which is basically a plastic softener. While there are no real scientific studies that can proof that “phthalates” are or can be harmful, even in small doses, the European Union has determined that they are taking no chances and have pretty much banned the use of these softeners in PVC, which is a commonly used plastic in the production of many toys.
