Barbie's Toxic Dream House

Posted on September 10, 2007

Ok, this is getting ridiculous. How many more toys and other products made in China need to be recalled before the U.S. government regulatory agencies get on top of this and do their jobs? The most recent disaster is the recall by Mattel of 800,000 toys, many of which involve their flagship product, Barbie. Apparently, Barbie's home is a toxic waste dump of lead-contaminated paint. All those cute little accessories that round out the Barbie Dream House? Totally toxic. This is the third recall for Mattel, and shareholders are not happy.

The recall problem is so bad that Disney just announced that it will test all its own toys from here on out.

Fool.com says, "Mattel and its Fisher-Price division are considered particularly vulnerable, after recalling millions of toys because of lead paint concerns or pieces of toys that might be hazardous to children. Hasbro (NYSE: HAS), too, had to recall its popular Easy-Bake Ovens because of injury concerns.

Fool says Disney licenses its characters to around 2,000 companies so testing will be a complicated task. Disney plans to pass the testing costs onto its toy partners.

The problem here is twofold. First, China is a developing country which has minimal health and safety standards, for products or for workers. They work for pennies a day. Because of outsourcing, a majority of U.S. products are made in China. When you buy that toy for your grandchild, remember, it's most likely a Chinese child who made it. It's a case of children making toys in sweatshop conditions -- for children. The New York Times had an especially horrifying investigative piece on the subject last year. But no one seems to care.

The second problem is that the regulatory agencies under the Bush administration aren't doing their jobs. Budget cuts and partisan policies have hurt the American consumer. Heck, we don't even inspect our own food properly, much less the stuff coming in from China. Tainted spinach, peanut butter or beef, anyone? Somehow, I've lost my appetite.