Washington - Parents and care-givers began weeding out toys from children's play chests after United States toy giant Mattel recalled 18 million Chinese-made products worldwide, citing serious concerns for children's safety.
Toys including the mythical Barbie doll, Batman action figures and Polly Pocket play sets were taken off store shelves as Mattel vastly expanded an earlier recall, sparked when three children suffered perforated intestines after swallowing magnets that had fallen out of the playthings.
The recall also targeted the toy jeep "Sarge," from the hit animated film Cars, which had been painted by a Chinese company with a lead-based product.
More than 7,3 million of the toys affected were Polly Pocket play sets, because of concerns that children could swallow small magnets if they became dislodged.
The recall is the second in nine months to target the Polly Pocket range, and the second in as many weeks that hit Mattel products.
In November last year, 4,4 million Polly Pocket play sets were recalled after Mattel received nearly 200 reports of magnets becoming dislodged and three reports of children having to undergo surgery for damaged intestines after swallowing the tiny magnets.
Ingested magnets can become stuck together and cause intestinal perforation, infection or blockage, which can be fatal.
"This agency has been warning of the dangers of small magnets for years," Nancy Nord, chairperson of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission told reporters as she announced the huge recall.
In an alert earlier this month, Mattel's Fisher-Price subsidiary recalled nearly one million Chinese-made toys decorated with lead-based paint, which can harm children.
About one million Doggie Day Care sets, nearly 700 000 toys from the popular Barbie line, and 345 000 Batman and One Piece action figures have also been recalled following reports of dislodged magnets.
Mattel said it has received 26 reports of magnets coming loose from those toys, but no injuries were reported.
The Chinese company that had painted the 436 000 Sarge jeeps recalled on Tuesday had "violated Mattel's standards and utilised paint from a non-authorized third-party supplier," the California-based toy company said in a statement.
Tuesday's sweeping recall came as Mattel launched its autumn advertising campaign under the slogan: "Your children are our children too."
But it rang hollow to many parents and caregivers, as did an apology from Mattel boss Robert Eckert, assurances of Mattel's tough quality and safety tests, and a statement that the latest recall was a preventive measure undertaken with children's safety in mind.
Jannell Furrer, who runs Country Kids in Colorado, said the repeated recalls have made her look at Mattel toys in a different light.
"I got a catalogue and saw some cool things in there, but they were Fisher-Price and I hesitated because I thought, how am I supposed to know if they were made in China?" she told AFP by phone.
"I don't look at Fisher-Price or Mattel the way I used to," said Furrer, who looks after 10 children, from infants to the age of nine.
At the Evergreen summer camp, which is attended by 300 children including pre-schoolers in the Washington area, a counselor said toy purchases would be given more thought.
"We have not bought Mattel toys in the past year and a half, so I think that we are not affected and won't have to throw away any of our toys," said the counselor, who asked not to be named.
"But we will certainly be more careful and attentive to detail now when we buy toys," she said.
As news of the latest recall spread, meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper expressed "growing concerns" over dangerous imported products, though he did not mention China.
"We've seen a number of recalls, not just toys, but some other products as well. I can tell you that the government is concerned about this."
He said the issue will be raised at the upcoming August 20-21 summit of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
"That issue, the importation of products from abroad and the safety standards of those products that will be something we'll be taking a look at from a continental perspective as well," Harper said.
- Reuters reports from Beijing that China knew about problems with magnets on toys as long ago as March, quoting an industry official on Wednesday.
"We knew about the situation, because since March some toys had been recalled due to magnetic parts problems," said an official with the China Toy Association, who declined to be identified.
She did not explain why it had taken so long for something to be done.
The China Toy Association would meet the Commerce Ministry and quality watchdog later in the day to discuss the recall, the official said.
China has been struggling to convince the world its products are safe after a series of scandals over tainted pet food, drugs, tyres, toys and toothpaste.
Last week, the government banned two factories from exporting toys following the previous week's high profile recall of Mattel products, including Big Bird and Elmo.
The China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Light Industrial Products and Arts and Crafts, another group which represents toy makers, said it was asking members to publicly sign a pledge to improve quality.
"We feel deep pain at the irresponsible behaviour of some companies," it said in the pledge letter.
"We cannot let the actions of a small minority of firms hold back the pace of the march forward of the whole industry, and must use this lesson as an opportunity to raise management standards for everyone," it added.
Companies must not accept orders which are "low priced and with unclear quality demands" nor those which "demand delivery of a large amount of goods in a short space of time and obviously exceed the production capacity of companies", it said.
A statement on the association's website repeated the standard line that Chinese-made toys were overwhelmingly safe and that the government takes the issue very seriously.
"The Chinese government and industry have all along attached great importance to the issue of toy quality safety, and taken a series of measures such as strengthened authentication," it said.
Of about 300 000 batches for export, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission had only made about 29 recalls, it added.
"The general safety level of Chinese toys is worthy of trust," the statement said.