Mattel has recovered only a tiny proportion of the two million dangerous items it recalled last week, it admitted yesterday, as new safety concerns emerged over children’s products.

The admission from the toy company, which announced a recall of 71 types of toys with loose magnets and unsafe levels of lead paint, has raised fears that hundreds of thousands of products may still be within reach of children.

The revelation came as Hamleys removed two products from its shelves over the weekend after it was revealed that they contained lethal levels of lead. As with the Mattel products, both the Hamley’s items of jewellery were imported from China.

Peter Luff, the chairman of the Trade and Industry Parliamentary Select Committee, said it appeared that China had a “systemic” problem in complying with international safety regulations, and called upon the Government to take action.

Hamleys removed the products after tests conducted by The Sunday Times found that a £4.99 bracelet contained more than 93 per cent lead. Under UK regulations, toys can contain no more than 0.1 per cent lead. But children’s jewellery is exempt from the standard for toys, and must comply only with the general standard for other products.

Tests also found high levels of lead in two children’s products sold by Monsoon Accessorize, as well as market stalls in Camden, Piccadilly and Oxford Street in London and St Martin’s market in Birmingham.

Eight items from Hanleys, Monsoon Accessorize and market stalls were found to contain high levels of lead. Chewing or swallowing items containing lead can cause brain damage in children and in rare cases can be fatal. Ordinarily, lead in jewellery is plated, making it safer. But if chewed or chipped, lead could enter the body.

Nobody has yet been injured or made ill by the faulty toys, but Mattel said it had received 570 complaints of magnets coming loose from its toys. The company said yesterday that only 8,000 parents had e-mailed it to obtain the labels necessary to return items that it recalled in last week’s safety scare.

A spokesman said: “We haven’t got lorry-loads back yet, but it’s in the thousands.”

The products involved in the scare are from the Polly Pocket, Doggie Daycare, Batman Magna and Barbie doll ranges, and were made between January 2002 and January this year. The company said that it will inspect every batch of paint. Mr Luff said yesterday: “I would expect the Government to take action if a loophole has emerged. No British producer would dare to make a product that unsafe.”

A Chinese businessman, Zhang Shuhong, hanged himself last week before his Lee Der Industrial Company was punished for using the wrong paint.

Mattel has recovered only a tiny proportion of the two million dangerous items it recalled last week, it admitted yesterday, as new safety concerns emerged over children’s products.

The admission from the toy company, which announced a recall of 71 types of toys with loose magnets and unsafe levels of lead paint, has raised fears that hundreds of thousands of products may still be within reach of children. The company said that only 8,000 parents had e-mailed to obtain the labels necessary to return items.

The revelation came as Hamleys removed two products from its shelves over the weekend after it was revealed that they contained lethal levels of lead. As with the Mattel products, both the Hamleys items of jewellery were imported from China.

Peter Luff, the chairman of the Trade and Industry Parliamentary Select Committee, said it appeared that China had a “systemic” problem in complying with international safety regulations, and called upon the Government to take action.

Hamleys removed the products after tests conducted by The Sunday Times found that a £4.99 bracelet contained more than 93 per cent lead. Under UK regulations, toys can contain no more than 0.1 per cent lead. But children’s jewellery is exempt from the standard for toys, and must comply only with the general standard for other products.

Tests also found high levels of lead in two children’s products sold by Monsoon Accessorize, as well as market stalls in Camden, Piccadilly and Oxford Street in London and St Martin’s market in Birmingham.

Eight items from Hamleys, Monsoon Accessorize and market stalls were found to contain high levels of lead. American authorities recently issued a warning over nine million items of children’s jewellery.

Chewing or swallowing items containing lead can cause brain damage in children and in rare cases can be fatal. Ordinarily, lead in jewellery is plated, making it safer. But if chewed or chipped, lead could enter the body.

Nobody has yet been injured or made ill by the faulty toys, but Mattel said that it had received 570 complaints of magnets coming loose from its toys.

The products involved in the scare are from the Polly Pocket, Doggie Daycare, Batman Magna and Barbie doll ranges, and were made between January 2002 and January this year. The company said that it will inspect every batch of paint. Mr Luff said yesterday: “I would expect the Government to take action if a loophole has emerged. No British producer would dare to make a product that unsafe.”

A Chinese businessman, Zhang Shuhong, hanged himself last week before his Lee Der Industrial Company was punished for using the wrong paint.

18m

number of Chinese-made toys that have been recalled worldwide

Source: Times database

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