Avoiding toxic and dangerous toys

Despite recent legislation to keep dangerous toys off the market, many hazardous toys are still available on store shelves, warns the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a consumer activist organization.

My Binky: recalled due to choking hazard

The reason? Many of the new law’s protections will not take affect until next year.

The group has put out a Tips for Toy Safety brochure to help shoppers identify potentially hazardous toys.

Parents should be aware, the group warns, that there are still toys on the market containing high levels of phthalates, chemicals that have been linked with a number of health problems, including problems with child development, reproductive disorders, premature delivery and early onset of puberty, due to their hormonal effects.

Lead, which can cause brain damage and other health problems, continues to be found in products, in particular toy jewelry, US PIRG investigators say, and easily swallowed toys, which can cause choking, and small magnetic toys, which can cause intestinal obstruction, are still available.

“It’s still ‘buyer beware’ for this shopping season,” said U.S. PIRG Public Health Advocate Liz Hitchcock.

Several guides are available online to help shoppers identify potentially dangerous toys.

• U.S. PIRG has a two-page brochure with Tips for Toy Safety.
• There is a searchable database at www.healthytoys.org where you can look up specific toys to see if they have been found to have safety problems.
• The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission maintains a list products that have been recalled because of safety reasons, which can be searched by type of product or type of hazard they pose, such as choking.

Tags: Choking, Lead Poisoning, Toy Safety, Toys

Category: Child & Youth Health, Product Recall, Safety