Fisher-Price recalls lead based paint toys: steps parents can take to protect their legal rights

For the second time in two months, a major recall of children's toys has occurred because of lead based paint. In June, toy maker RC2 Corp. recalled 1.5 million wooden railroad toys from its Thomas the Tank engine product line. The company said that the surface paint on certain toys made in China contain hazardous amounts of lead based paint.

On August 1, 2007, toy maker Fischer-price announced the recall of 83 types of toys, including big Bird, Elmo, Dora and Diego characters, once again because of hazardous lead based paint. This recall includes almost a million plastic toys made by a Chinese vendor and sold in the United States between May and August.

Our law firm has received many phone calls from concerned parents. As always, our number one recommendation if parents are concerned about their children's health is to contact your pediatrician. What follows is additional advice that we give to concerned parents.

Step one: determine if your children have access to toys which have been recalled for lead based paint. The following is a partial list of the Fisher-Price toys which were recalled on August 1:

33662 Elmo Light Up Musical Pal

33663 Ernie Light Up Musical Pal

33664 Big Bird Light Up Musical Pal

34658 Elmo Stacking Rings

39038 Elmo Tub Sub

39054 Sesame Street Shape Sorter

87946 Elmo Keyboard

90267 Ernie Splashin' Fun Trike

90609 Elmo Collectible

90611 Cookie Collectible

90612 Zoe Collectible

90613 Ernie Collectible

90614 Big Bird Collectible

90745 Construction Playset

93068 Elmo Boom Box

93107 Action Fire Engine

93307 Press N Go Elmo

93308 Rev & Go Cookie Monster

93492 Cookie Saxophone

93493 Elmo's Guitar

93615 Splash Tub Puzzle

93780 Music And Lights Phone

B7554 Count To Beat Elmo

B7888 Shake, Giggle & Roll

B7987 Elmo in the Giggle Box

B7989 Silly Parts Talking Elmo

B9620 Dora's Talking House

C6908 Dora, Backpack, Perrito Figure Pack

C6909 Diego Figure Pack

C6910 Swiper Figure Pack

C6911 Boots, Tico Figure Pack

G3825 Dora Talking Vamonos Van

G5112 Sing With Elmo's Greatest Hits

G9717 Giggle Doodler

H2943 Grow with Me Elmo Sprinkler

H3343 Cousin Daisy

H3344 Birthday Dora

H5569 Elmo & Pals (Elmo, Cookie, Ernie)

H5570 Elmo & Pals (Elmo, Zoe, Big Bird)

H4187 Dora Figures in Tube

H4628 Water Fun Tote

H8236 Dora 3 Pack Figures in Tube

H8237 Blue 3 Pack Figures in Tube

H8238 Sponge Bob 3 Pack Figures in Tube

H9124 Chef Dora

H9125 Bedtime Dora

H9186 Giggle Grabber Ernie

H9188 Giggle Grabber Oscar the Grouch

J0338 Diego Talking Field Journal

J0343 Go Diego Go Antarctic Rescue

J0344 Go Diego Go Deep Sea Rescue

J0345 Go Diego Go Mountain Rescue

J0346 Go Diego Go Talking Rescue 4 X 4

J5935 Giggle Grabber Soccer Elmo

J5936 Giggle Grabber Chef Cookie Monster

J6537 Sesame Street Giggle Toolbelt

J6762 Queen Mami

J6763 Royal Boots and Tico

J6765 Prince Diego

J7983 Sesame Street Tub Pots & Pans

J9518 Sesame Street Giggle Drill

J9692 Dora's Talking Pony Place

K0617 Twins Nursery

K3414 Diego - Talking Gadget Belt

K3571 Go Diego Go Mobile Rescue Unit

K3580 Fairytale Adventure Dora

K4139 Go Diego Go Dinosaur Rescue

K4140 Toucan Motorcycle Rescue

L0305 Dora Figure

L3194 Surprise Inside Diego Eggs

L3215 Sesame Street Elmo Jack-In-The-Box

L3488 Sesame Street Birthday Figure Pack

L3507 Sesame Street - Super Boom Box

L5202 Birthday Dora

L5813 Diego Tub Trike

L8905 Pablo & Pals

M0351 Dora Figures Dora & Kitty

M0352 Dora Figures Diego & Bear

M0524 Go Diego Go Talking Gadget

M0527 Sesame Street Giggle Doodler

M0732 Dora's Talking House

M2051 Let's Go Rescue Center

M2052 Fairytale Castle

If your child has one of these toys, take it away immediately. It is extremely important that you do not throw away the toy away immediately, but rather hold onto it in a zip lock bag a in a location which is not accessible by children. In this way, if you subsequently determined that your child has suffered lead poisoning, you will have preserved the evidence that your child had a lead toy.

Once you have removed the lead away from your child, we strongly recommend that you contact your physician for an immediate blood test. Blood tests are the "gold standard" for determining whether a child has had excessive exposure to lead. Your physician can review the results with you, and advise you if your child has suffered an excessive amount of lead exposure. You may wish to point out to your pediatrician that some cities have recently lowered the concern level for lead poisoning to 5 mcg per deciliter.

If your child has suffered lead poisoning, as determined by a blood test, you should consider obtaining legal counsel to assist you in investigating your child's legal rights.

If you would like more information regarding childhood lead poisoning, please feel free to contact us. Our website also provides additional resources and links to assist parents faced with the challenges of lead poisoning.