Toy Safety

What's New

Senate Passes Major CPSC Reform Act

The Senate passed on a 79-13 vote, the CPSC Reform Act. This bi-partisan legislation represents the most significant improvement in almost two decades to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the agency that oversees the safety of more than 15,000 consumer products in the United States.

“Better product safety requires a comprehensive approach – fewer toxic toys, more money and authority for the CPSC, more disclosure to the public of hazards, more enforcement by state attorneys general and more independent testing of toys and other children’s products,” said Ed Mierzwinski, OSPIRG's Federal Consumer Program Director. “We intend to work with the House and Senate to quickly package the best elements of both their bills into a final bi-partisan law.”

How You Can Help

Tell NAM to support CPSC reforms

Now that the CPSC bill passed the Senate by a resounding 79-13 vote, all that’s left is for the House and Senate to negotiate their two bills so that they can send a final law to the president. However, the National Association of Manufacturers, which includes toy companies and others that make products regulated by the CPSC, continues its opposition to passage of the best parts of both bills and may try to delay or even kill the reforms.

Click here to email the National Association of Manufacturers and ask them to support the strongest possible CPSC reforms.

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Overview

Toys ought to be safe, and while most are, we continue to find toys that pose a range of safety hazards to small children. As a result, parents and other child-care providers need to remain vigilant in order to prevent toy-related deaths and injuries.

In our annual reports on toy safety, we provide safety guidelines for parents when purchasing toys for small children. We also provide examples of toys we found on store shelves that may pose potential safety hazards. In recent years, we have focused on four categories of toys: toys that may pose choking hazards, magnetic toys, toys that are excessively loud, and toys that contain potentially toxic chemicals such as phthalates and lead.

OSPIRG researchers continue to find toys on store shelves that pose choking, strangulation, hearing loss, and toxic dangers.

Report

Trouble in Toyland: 22nd Annual Toy Safety Survey

Resource

Current Product Recall List

Find lists of recalled products by visiting the Consumer Product Safety Commission's Web site.

ISSUES