By NICHOLAS CASEY and NICHOLAS ZAMISKA
from The Wall Street Journal

Latest Incident From China Involves Cars, Magnet Toys; More Pressure on Factories

Mattel Inc. is close to announcing its second big recall of Chinese-made toys in as many weeks, according to people familiar with the matter, expanding a mounting crisis for the toy maker that could grow even more problematic as the holiday shopping season approaches.

Mattel earlier recalled more than a million toys — including ones based on characters from Sesame Street and Nickelodeon — that may have been tainted with lead paint. Now, people briefed on the matter say, it will recall possibly hundreds of thousands of more items. One of the recalled items is a die-cast car that may contain lead paint. Other items involve toys with magnets that can be harmful to children if swallowed. The items involved in the new recall may come from different factories than the plant that made toys involved in the first recall, according to these people. The magnet-related recall is expected to involve several years worth of the affected toy, a person familiar with the matter said.

Mattel didn’t return calls seeking comment. The Consumer Product Safety Commission had no comment.

Magnet issues surfaced recently in another toy recall. In 2006, the CPSC issued a similar recall for 3.8 million “Magnetix” sets, a toy produced by Rose Art Industries Inc. of Livingston, N.J. The sets consisted of tiny magnets that, if swallowed by an infant, bonded together in the stomach and caused fatal intestinal perforation in at least one instance. The CPSC documented 34 incidents involving the magnets, including one death and four serious injuries. A 20-month-old boy died after he swallowed pieces that twisted his small intestine and created a blockage.

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