Oak Brook's RC2 to pay $1.25 million fine for lead paint

An Oak Brook company has agreed to pay a $1.25 million fine following charges of violating the federal lead paint ban.

RC2 Corp. and its subsidiary Learning Curve Brands Inc. were accused of importing and selling various toys with paints or other surface coatings that contained lead levels above legal limits, according to the settlement agreement announced Tuesday by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The commission alleged in 2007 that RC2 failed to take adequate action to ensure that the toys would comply with the lead paint ban. This failure, the agency said, created a risk of lead poisoning and other health dangers to children.

RC2 reported in 2007 that more than two dozen styles of vehicles, buildings and other train set components from the Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway product line were determined to have paints with lead levels that exceeded the then-applicable regulatory limit. Then, again in 2007, RC2 further reported that five additional toys from this product line were determined to have exceeded the regulatory limit.

The settlement said RC2 imported up to 1.5 million units of noncompliant toys between January, 2005 and June, 2007, and distributed them to its retail customers for sale to U.S. consumers. Those toys were recalled in June of 2007. RC2 also imported up to 200,000 units of noncompliant toys from the same product line between March, 2003 and April, 2007, and distributed them to its retail customers for sale to U.S. consumers. Those were also recalled.

"The highly publicized recall of Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway toys was a catalyst for Congressional action aimed at strengthening CPSC and making the lead-in-paint limits under federal law even stricter," said safety commission Chairman Inez Tenenbaum.

This settlement also resolves other potential matters outstanding against RC2.

In agreeing to the settlement, RC2 denied it knowingly violated federal law.