Another week, another recall for Mattel.

This week, when telling Americans that they should expect more recalls in the coming months, an ominous warning was issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission about the safety of toys manufactured in China, “If I were a betting person I’d bet on more lead paint recalls. It’s clear that lead paint on toys is not isolated just to Mattel.”

This recall affected three categories of toys. The smallest percentage of the recall was made up of Big Big World 6-in-1 Bongo Band toys while 90,000 Geo Trax Locomotive Toys have been removed from the shelves. The largest portion of the Mattel recall is comprised of Barbie accessories, affecting nearly 700,000 toys.

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Two weeks after their toy recall involving more than 1 million toys worldwide, Mattel is smack dab in the middle of it’s second voluntary recall. This time, the number is even greater, as the recall encompasses 9 million toys, including Polly Pockets, Batman, a “Cars” movie toy and even the venerable Barbie.

This is the second time that Mattel has implemented a voluntary recall based upon internal testing. The acting chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Nancy Nord, said, “The company has ordered that all products be pulled off retail shelves.”

Barbie, Batman and Polly Pocket toys utilize small magnets in their design. According to Ms. Nord, ingesting more than one magnet could cause intestinal damage. Mattel is reaching back several years to purchasers to advise them that the magnets are a potential danger and has now changed the way it attaches magnets to its toys to make them safer. The dangers appear to be very similar to those of the Magnetix toy, which was subject to a recall last year, which required surgical intervention to remove swallowed Magnetix parts and caused one death.

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It is a monumental tragedy; there is simply no other way to describe it. Motorists were driving across interstate 35 yesterday when, without warning, the bridge began to fall apart under their cars and plunged dozens of cars into the muddy Mississippi river.

When it opened 40 years ago, the bridge was an engineering breakthrough because no mid-span support was placed under the bridge. This allowed for unimpeded boat traffic on the Mississippi river below. Bridges decay, stress, and become damaged over time. The LA Times reports that the last comprehensive inspection of this bridge was in 2001. State inspectors concluded that the bridge “should not have any problems with fatigue cracking in the foreseeable future.” Tragically, the foreseeable future must be something less than six years. The LA Times reported that:

“Inspectors recommended frequent inspection - as often as every six months - of the steel trusses that bore the most stress. But they concluded that the state “does not need to prematurely replace this bridge … avoiding the high costs associated with such a large project.”

Bridges are often exposed to chloride as a result of marine salt or the application of salt during winter road deicing. Chloride attacks the bridge surface and can begin causing corrosion of both the bridge surface as well as the support structures. The reinforcements found closest to the top or bottom surface of the concrete are usually the first to suffer structural decay. Once the decay begins, structural components suffer progressive decay and structural integrity failure.

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Following closely on the heels of the public outcry concerning unsafe products from China, comes the news that one of the leading makers of toys, Fisher-Price (parent company is Mattel), is recalling more than 80 different toys because the paint used to make them contains too much lead.

In its first worldwide recall since 1998, Mattel announced that it would recall nearly one million toys, including the very popular Dora, Diego, Big Bird and Elmo. Interestingly, these toys were manufactured by a Chinese vendor and sold throughout the U.S. during the past five months. This recall follows closely with the June recall of 1.5 million wooden railroad toys and set parts from RC2 Corporation from its extremely popular Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway product line.

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China has certainly suffered its share of setbacks in the export of products to the rest of the world. They have allowed tainted toothpaste to leave their country and deadly dog & cat food to be exported. Most recently, it was discovered that Chinese tires were manufactured without including the material that binds the belts together.

China’s response to this event has been essentially two-fold. They blame foreign media for over blowing the whole thing. They especially point to the West’s media for concentrating on what they claim are isolated incidents:

“Some foreign media, especially those based in the U.S., have wantonly reported on so called unsafe Chinese products. They are turning white to black,” said Li Changjiang, minister of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

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A trial that began June 11 in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, DC pits 4800 families of children with autism, the plaintiffs, against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This first of nine test cases promises to become a landmark debate about the causes of autism generally, and, more specifically, about any causative role played by vaccines for childhood diseases such as measles and mumps.

Petitioners say the culprit is either the mercury-containing vaccine preservative called thimerosal or the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine (MMR) - which does not contain thimerosal - or a combination of the two. Advocates of this position claim that autism rates have skyrocketed since these vaccinations became mandatory, citing recent CDC findings that one in 150 eight-year-olds now has an “autistic spectrum” disorder. Parents of children with autism offer heart-rending anecdotal information about bright, active two- or three-year-olds who, after being vaccinated, have impaired social and communications skills and can no longer even feed themselves.

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First, American pet owners discovered suddenly and tragically that pet foods manufactured in China contained melamine particles that sickened and even killed cats and dogs in the U.S. Next, we learned that other suspicious foods and health products were being imported from China - foods and products that endangered human health.

Now, the New York Times reports that China is responsible for 60% of all product recalls in the United States (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/19/business/worldbusiness),/. Last year, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commissioner yanked 467 products made in China - a new record. And the latest is a real shocker: Thomas & Friends train sets coated with lead paint, which can damage children’s brain cells.

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Wyeth, the manufacturer of women’s hormone replacement drug Prempro, is not protected by a federal law which would have moved any case brought against the manufacturer to federal court. A ruling by a New Jersey judge earlier this week, stated that “federal law does not bar state lawsuits alleging drugmakers did not adequately warn about a product’s risks.”

Wyeth, the manufacturer of women’s hormone replacement drug Prempro, is not protected by a federal law which would have moved any case brought against the manufacturer to federal court. A ruling by a New Jersey judge earlier this week, stated that “federal law does not bar state lawsuits alleging drugmakers did not adequately warn about a product’s risks.”

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The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety issued a list of vehicles qualifying as Top Safety Picks following extensive testing at the Institute testing facility. The Institute rates vehicles based on “performance in high-speed front and side crash tests plus evaluations of seat/head restraints for protection against neck injuries in rear impacts.”

In order to qualify as a Top Safety Pick, each vehicle must earn at least “good” ratings in all three of the above-mentioned tests. In addition, for the first time this year, in order to qualify as a Top Pick, the Institute requires the winning vehicles to have electronic stability control. “This addition is based on Institute research indicating that ESC significantly reduces crash risk, especially the risk of fatal single vehicle crashes, by helping drivers maintain control of their vehicles during emergency maneuvers.”

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The US and Canada have stopped all imports of Chinese made toothpaste, because it contains diethylene glycol (DEG). DEG is a chemical commonly used in antifreeze.

Now, there are reports that counterfeit Colgate toothpaste is being distributed. Although the origins of many containers of this counterfeit toothpaste are unknown, it seems clear the toothpaste contains DEG and harmful bacteria. DEG is a poisonous chemical used in antifreeze and as a solvent that may cause nausea, abdominal pain, dizziness, urinary problems, kidney failure, breathing problems, lethargy, convulsions, coma and even death when ingested.

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