August is Month of Recall: Toothpaste ... Mattel, Fisher-Price & Nokia

Mattel voluntarily recalled 63 magnetic toys sold at retail prior to January 2007. Magnetic toys recalled within the U.S. include 44 Polly Pocket™ toys, 11 Doggie Day Care® toys, 4 Batman™ toys, 1 One Piece™ toy, and the accessory part of 2 Barbie® toys. For additional information regarding the magnetic toy recall, contact Mattel at (888) 597-6597, or visit the company’s Web site at http://www.service.mattel.com/. A full list of products is published on the company’s Web site at http://www.mattel.com/, as well as by the Consumer Products Safety Commission http://www.cpsc.gov/. Consumers should immediately take these products away from children and contact Mattel to arrange return and to receive a voucher for a replacement toy of the consumer’s choice, up to the value of the returned product.

On Aug. 1, toymaker Fisher-Price also issued a voluntary recall of nearly one million Chinese-made toys including the popular Sesame Street characters and Dora the Explorer because of excessive lead paint levels. The toys, all marked with “Fisher-Price", may have a date code between 109-7LF and 187-7LF marked on the product or packaging. The toys were sold at retail stores nationwide from May 2007 through August 2007 for between $5 and $40.
Consumers should immediately take the recalled toys away from children and contact Fisher-Price. They will need to return the product and will receive a voucher for a replacement toy of the consumer’s choice (up to the value of the returned product).

Nokia today announced a recall of 46 million of its BL-5C cell phone batteries, due to potential overheating. The batteries in question were manufactured by Matsushita between December 2005 and November 2006. In a statement Nokia said,“While the occurrence in the BL-5C batteries produced by Matsushita in the time-period specified is very rare, for consumers wishing to do so, Nokia and Matsushita offer to replace any BL-5C battery subject to this product advisory".