Hazardous toys trigger a suicide

last updated 8 January 2015

Foshan, China

The head of the Chinese toy company involved in a massive toy recall hanged himself last week, authorities said. Zhang Shuhong was co-owner of a company that supplied Mattel with Fisher-Price brand plastic toys found to contain lead paint. More than a million of the toys were recalled, and Zhang’s company is on the verge of collapse. This week, Mattel announced the recall of an additional 19 million Chinese-made toys, including some Barbie and Batman toys and Polly Pocket dolls. Mattel, the world’s largest toy retailer, gets about 65 percent of its products from China, the world’s leading toy supplier. The recalls are another blow to China’s already crumbling reputation as an exporter. Earlier this year, Chinese-made pet food sickened hundreds of animals in the U.S., and Chinese-made toothpaste was banned in South America.