US recalls 300,000 more Chinese-made toys amid lead fears

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Two US toy companies yesterday recalled more than 300,000 Chinese-made toys, saying they contained potentially dangerous levels of lead.

The alert comes eight days after a massive global recall by US toy giant Mattel Inc., of 18 million toys that were made in China, and is the fourth recall this month of toys imported to the US from China.

The recalled products were 250,000 Sponge Bob spiral address books and journals, 66,000 spinning tops, including some from the popular Thomas the Tank Engine series, and 4,700 pails, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission said in separate statements issued jointly with the two companies concerned.

The paint on the metal spiral bindings of the address books and journals, and on the metal handles of the tops and pails "contain excessive levels of lead", the US importers of the toys, Martin Designs of Ohio and Schylling Associates of Massachusetts, said.

The Schylling company had earlier this month recalled 24,000 Chinese-made "Thomas & Friends" spinning tops, warning that they were painted with lead-based paint.

Lead poisoning can cause learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and, at very high levels, seizures, coma, and even death.