Yesterday we announced the withdrawal of almost a million toys from the Mattel company having detected an excess of lead in the paint used for toys. These came from China and the safety standards that guaranteed their safety had not been contemplated.
A question must address our thinking, we know that lead is a pollutant and that the international community is aware of it, including the Chinese, we also know that Mattel company orders a certain product under a series of conditions that have not been met and that This may represent a risk to the Chinese economy, since they would stop requesting their services, then Why, despite everything, lead is still used in paints made in China?
Mattel, rather, the vice president of the company indicates that the company that developed the toys has maintained relations with the company for 15 years, as if the sole of working together gave more credibility to the Chinese company, in addition to a simple “they screwed up "It is as if trying to justify that the errors are human and that the problem can be corrected without major setbacks.
There are many toys that have had to be removed from the market, not only those of Mattel, and last year they had to remove various toys sold by RC2 Corp, no less than 1.5 million wooden trains and 20,000 children's lanterns for the same problem. In Europe we also find cases in which toys have been removed, not only those that belong to the stores of "all to one hundred".
Already last year several studies belonging to some American universities showed that up to 75% of the paintings they use in countries such as China contain lead levels that exceed what is allowed. In addition, a sign that China's policy, at least so far, has not imported child health in the least, is the analysis that shows that up to 34% of Chinese children have a blood lead level that can seriously affect their brains causing neurological problems and brain damage as indicated by the Center for Health Science of Beijing University.
The ban on the inclusion of lead in paints has been contemplated in China for 10 years, but Chinese manufacturers, thinking of the damn economic benefit since lead is a very cheap additive that allows them to increase their profits, have resisted and continue to use it , stop. Consumers can change this situation, the health of children must prevail above all, not buying a single product that comes from a country where they do not care about the safety of children, that should be our obligation.
