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Washington, DC—Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), a senior member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Representative Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Ct.), a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, joined by a coalition of fifty-four other colleagues, sent a letter yesterday to David Eckert, CEO of Mattel, calling on the company to cease the production of toys containing lead—including a toy known to have high levels of accessible surface lead (text of the letter below). Additionally, Congressman Cummings and Congresswoman DeLauro intend to meet with representatives from Mattel to further discuss this issue.
“When the major leaders of the toy industry refuse to take a stand for our children’s safety, a disgracefully low standard is set for other companies,” Congressman Cummings said. “It is simply shocking to the conscience that a company as well-known as Mattel would be lining the toy stores—and the shelves of our children’s bedrooms—with toxic toys.”
“Parents should be able to trust that the toys their children play with are safe. With the Consumer Product Safety Commission sitting on the back bench, toy companies must step-up and surpass the standards set by law,” said Congresswoman DeLauro. “Recalls based on geography not only allows unsafe toys to get into the hands of our children, but it damages brands like Mattel, which parents have come to rely on. This is about the health and well-being of our children and we should not have a race to the bottom.”
Representatives Cummings and DeLauro have both individually written to Mr. Eckert in the past expressing concern over the safety of Mattel’s products. Most recently, in December, Congressman Cummings requested from Mr. Eckert that the company recall a toy medical kit produced by Mattel’s subsidiary, Fisher Price, which ironically contains a red blood pressure cuff with levels of lead at nearly 500% of the federal standard for paint.
Additionally, nearly six months ago, when the public began to realize the number of contaminated toys in their homes and on store shelves, Congresswoman DeLauro wrote Mr. Eckert to better understand what the company was doing to institute better practices to prevent tainted toys from entering the marketplace.
Dissatisfied with the response from the company, Representatives Cumming and DeLauro circulated this follow-up letter to their colleagues.
The Text of the Letter:
Mr. Eckert:
We write you today not only as federal legislators, but as parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbors, and representatives of the children who find joy in the toys produced by Mattel. We are gravely concerned about the dangers posed to children by the use of lead in your company’s products and urge you, as a father yourself, to completely eliminate the use of lead in the toys produced by your company and all of its subsidiaries.
Specifically, we are disturbed by your lack of action upon the discovery that a red toy blood pressure cuff manufactured by Fisher Price, Mattel’s subsidiary, contains high levels of lead; two such cuffs tested at 4500 and 5900 ppm of lead, respectively. It was not until Illinois State Attorney General Lisa Madigan notified you that the toys were in violation of Illinois state regulations that you took any action at all to protect our children, and said action was limited to removing the toy from the shelves of Illinois stores. We find this response to be deficient and encourage you to immediately stop selling the red blood pressure cuff in all states. If this product is too dangerous for the children of Illinois, it is too dangerous for children in the rest of this country.
The effects of lead poisoning are irreversible and tragic, and every precaution should be taken in the manufacture of products intended for use by children—our most vulnerable population. The federal lead paint standard established nearly thirty years ago is 600 ppm. If 600ppm is too high for lead paint, then surely lead levels in toys that are 800% to 900% of this standard are unacceptable.
The State of Illinois has taken a bold step in passing protective legislation on this issue, and other states and the federal government are examining legislation at least as strict as Illinois’ extension of the 600 ppm limit to all toys, regardless of material. It is unfortunate, however, that toy manufacturers have not voluntarily enacted these standards on their own.
In an opinion statement published in the September 11, 2007, issue of the Wall Street Journal responding to criticism over recent recalls of numerous toys due to high levels of lead paint, you wrote:
It is my sincere pledge that we will face this challenge with integrity and reaffirm that we will do the right thing. We will embrace this test of our company and the opportunity to become better…[M]y father encouraged me to earn his trust through my actions rather than just talk about what I was going to do…And it is on this principle that Mattel will move forward. We will earn back your trust with our deeds, not just with our words.
We encourage you to review your pledge and act accordingly by recalling the red blood pressure cuff. Furthermore, we challenge you to live up to your words and set a standard for the entire industry by completely eliminating the use of lead in all of the children’s products manufactured by Mattel. When parents purchase a product from your company, they are not just purchasing a toy—they are putting their trust in an established brand that has historically been believed to provide merchandise that is safe for their children. We urge you to live up to this reputation.
Sincerely,
Elijah E. Cummings, Rosa L. DeLauro, Neil Abercrombie, Thomas H. Allen, Sanford D. Bishop, Jr., Corrine Brown, G.K. Butterfield, Kathy Castor, Donna M. Christensen, Yvette D. Clarke, Wm. Lacy Clay, Emanuel Cleaver, Steve Cohen, Artur Davis, Diana DeGette, Keith Ellison, Anna G. Eshoo, Sam Farr, Chaka Fattah, Bob Filner, Barney Frank, Al Green, Raul M. Grijalva, Luis V. Gutierrez, Phil Hare, Baron P. Hill, Maurice D. Hinchey, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Carolyn C. Kilpatrick, Dennis J. Kucinich, John B. Larson, Barbara Lee, John Lewis, Nita M. Lowey, Edward J. Markey, Doris O. Matsui, James P. McGovern, Kendrick B. Meek, Dennis Moore, James P. Moran, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Bill Pascrell, Jr., David E. Price, Silvestre Reyes, Steven R. Rothman, Bobby L. Rush, Linda T. Sanchez, Janice D. Schakowsky, Vic Snyder, Betty Sutton, Bennie G. Thompson, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Melvin L. Watt, Henry A. Waxman, Robert Wexler, Albert R. Wynn
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