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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | November 2007 
Mattel Destroys Unsafe Toys in Mexico
 Armando Tovar - Reuters
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| | Mexican health authorities inspect toys manufactured by toy maker Mattel that exceeded the allowed lead content before destroying them at a toxic waste disposal plant in Apasco, near Mexico City Wednesday Nov. 28, 2007. Authorities announced that they would destroy 164,000 toys in this operation. (AP/Miguel Tovar) |
Apaxco, Mexico - With Christmas just weeks away, Mattel Inc destroyed more than 160,000 hazardous toys on Wednesday made by the top toymaker after they were found to contain harmful levels of lead.
Little by little, the toys recalled from Mexican stores over the past few weeks, including dolls and toy cars, were thrown into a giant crushing machine outside Mexico City to become fuel for a cement-making oven.
Mattel Mexico's spokesman Fernando Gonzalez said the recent toy recalls in Mexico, the United States and Europe had cost the company $40 million worldwide. "But that is secondary; children's safety is priceless," he added.
Mattel had recalled over 170,000 Mexican-made toy kitchens sold in the United States and Europe in early November because small pieces posed a choking hazard to young children.
Millions of Chinese-made toys, including 21 million sold by Mattel, have been recalled worldwide recently due to excessive levels of lead paint and other unsafe components.
The European Union and the United States will work together on an overhaul of their toy safety regulations following the huge number of recalls.
Editing by Phil Berlowitz |
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