Settlement Reached with Toy Maker Over Lead

Thirty-eight states, including Kentucky, have reached a settlement with toy-maker Mattel over the presence of excessive levels of lead in toys.  Kentucky Attorney General spokeswoman Allison Martin says millions of tainted toys were on store shelves in 2007.“These toys were manufactured in China. And many of them not only violated the federal standards of parts-per-million for lead-based paint that was found in surface paint of toys, but exceeded that amount sometimes by tens of thousands in the parts per million," says Martin.Mattel has agreed to pay the states $12 million dollars in damages.  Kentucky’s share of the money is just under half a million dollars, which will go back into the Attorney General’s operating fund.