“Some of the most risky hazards posed by toys are invisible because they come in the form of toxic substances like the heavy metal chromium and the chemical phthalates”, said Weber.
Advertisement
A nonprofit public advocacy group at a local children’s hospital on Tuesday warned of some toys to potentially put back on the shelf this holiday shopping season.
NJ-PIRG noted one bright spot in this annual survey: This year it found no toys with risky levels of lead. Over the years, our reports have led to over 150 recalls and other enforcement actions. We found a fairy wand from Dollar Tree that has small parts that easily break off, but was not labeled as a choking hazard.
“It’s not only small kids, it’s just curious kids, wondering what this tastes like, and just putting something in their mouth”. The group believes it is a cause for concern, and calls on the CPSC to do further testing. The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood has invited nominees for Worst Toy of the Year.
Or take noisy toys, which PIRG sees as an unnecessary threat to a child’s hearing. We found Magic Towels packaged as a small baseball and a small football at Dollar Tree which did not have the appropriate small ball warning label.
“What parents can rely on is knowing that all toys sold in the USA are highly regulated 365 days a year by the federal government and must meet more than 100 safety standard requirements”, said Steve Pasierb, the association’s president and CEO. We found the Vtech Go! Go! Smart Animals, Vtech Spin & Learn Color Flashlight, Fisher Price Click n’ Learn Remote and the Leap Frog Fridge Phonics Magnetic Letter Set from Target don’t violate federal standards, but were found by CoPIRG to be loud even from a distance. Children are also fond of putting small toy parts in their ears or up their noses – which is not as unsafe, but still requires a trip to doctor or ER.
“The 2008 Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act strengthened the Consumer Product Safety Commission and gave it new authority to protect children from unsafe products”, said Rachel Weintraub, legislative director and general counsel at Consumer Federation of America.
Over the past seven years, stronger rules have helped get some of the most risky toys and children’s products off the market. However, not all toys comply with the law, and holes in the toy safety net remain.
“I count on them to do the work and do the research and point out to us the things that are not obvious that we need to know about to keep our children safe”, said Tosado.
Advertisement
Doctors say the most frequent toy-related injuries are from choking or swallowing pieces of toys.
