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It’s happening again. Massive amounts of products hailing from the People’s Republic of China are being extricated from shelves across the country. Toys have joined the growing heap of Chinese products that are deemed unsafe – some of which were still found on the streets of Queens this week.

On Tuesday, Mattel ordered a recall in the amount of 9 million Polly Pockets, Barbie dolls, Batman action figures and a litany of other toys. Two weeks prior, Mattel ordered a recall of 1.5 million toys.

According to Mattel’s Web site, the initial recall was due to the fact that a contractor from China used lead paint.

“We require our manufacturing partners to use paint from approved and certified suppliers and have procedures in place to test and verify, but in this particular case our procedures were not followed,” Mattel’s senior vice president of Worldwide Quality Assurance Jim Walter said. “We are investigating the cause to ensure such events do not reoccur.”

In connection with the recall, Chinese Contractor Zhang Shuhong, whose company Lee Der Industrial was the source of the initial recall, committed suicide on Saturday.

According to Forbes.com, Lee Der suffered a loss of $30 million.

The Mattel recall is just one in a litany of Chinese products being hauled of the shelves in the last two years.

According to Ebony Meeks, a spokeswoman for City Comptroller Bill Thompson, there have been a number of recalls from a major retailer, which carry a horde of Chinese products.

She said in the last year, Family Dollar Stores has recalled a spinning Christmas tree topper, which in eight incidents the ornament either melted or started smoking while sitting atop the tree. Other recalls from the chain store include the “Rachel Rose Kidz” rings that come four to a packet and were sold between December 2005 and January 2007.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the jewelry contains high levels of lead.

To thwart the selling of toxic products in Family Dollar Stores, Comptroller William Thompson Jr., has filed a shareholders proposal on behalf of New York City Employees Retirement Systems, part of the city’s pension fund.

The proposal demands that Family Dollar “thoroughly investigate whether it is stocking its shelves with dangerous goods. The pension fund, which holds 202,906 shares valued at $6,150,080 in Family Dollar Stores, would like a report assessing company policy for minimizing customers’ exposure to toxic and hazardous substances.

Other Chinese made products that were on the market, which have since been recalled, are pet food that used imported rice protein concentrate from China and contained melamine a product used in producing plastics, and fake Colgate toothpaste, which contained diethylene glycol (DEG), a chemical used in antifreeze and brake fluid.

According to published reports, DEG laced medicine was responsible for 94 deaths in Panama last year. The toxic substance was used in cough syrup, antihistamines and calamine lotion. The substance was made by a Chinese company that passed it of as 99.5 percent glycerin, a sweet tasting, colorless, thick liquid.