Hazardous
toys are still sold in stores across the country, according to the 22nd annual
toy safety survey released today by the Oregon Student Public Interest Research
Group (OSPIRG). OSPIRG was joined by
representative David Wu and Dr. Jay Rosenbloom, MD to release the report.
“While we have seen progress after more than two decades of advocacy on behalf
of America’s littlest consumers, OSPIRG’s researchers still found trouble in
toyland on store shelves this month,” said Matt Wallace, OSPIRG Consumer
Associate. “But recent high profile product recalls have given us a chance to
urge Congress to pass strong product safety reforms, and give kids the best
holiday gift of all.”
According to the most recent data from the Consumer Product
Safety Commission (CPSC), toy-related injuries sent almost 73,000 children
under the age of five to emergency rooms in 2005. Twenty children died from
toy-related injuries that year.
For 22 years, the OSPIRG Trouble in Toyland report has offered
safety guidelines for purchasing toys for small children and provides examples
of toys currently on store shelves that pose potential safety hazards.
OSPIRG’s 2007 research focused on several categories of toy
dangers: toys that pose choking hazards, toys with powerful magnets, toys that
contain lead, and toys that pose strangulation hazards. Most of the recalls
this year have been for hazards identified in previous editions of the OSPIRG
report—small powerful magnets, choking hazards and toys with excessive levels
of toxic lead, Wallace noted.
Among the findings of the 2007 Trouble In Toyland:
Lead in Toys and Children’s Jewelry: Children exposed to
lead can suffer lowered IQ, delayed mental and physical development and even
death. In 2006, a four year old died of lead poisoning after he swallowed
a bracelet charm that contained 99% lead. OSPIRG researchers went to just
a few stores and easily found four children’s toys or jewelry containing high,
actionable levels of lead. One piece of jewelry we found was 65% lead by weight,
or over one thousand times current CPSC action levels.
“We’ve known for decades that lead poses serious health risks to children, yet consumers
can still find lead-laden children’s jewelry and lead painted toys on store
shelves,” continued Wallace.
Magnetic Toys: Toymakers have started using powerful magnets in building toys, magnetic
jewelry and children’s playsets. If a child swallows more than one
magnet, they can attract each other in the body and cause a bowel obstruction
or life-threatening perforation. A 22-month old boy died in 2005 and many
others have needed life-saving surgery after swallowing magnets. This year, the
CPSC has recalled popular Mattel toys, including Barbie and Polly Pockets, for
poorly designed magnets that fall out. Listed in the report are several
examples of sloppily-designed or poorly-labeled magnetic toys found by OSPIRG
researchers this fall.
“Swallowing a magnet is not like swallowing a penny. Powerful magnets can wreak
havoc inside the body,” cautioned Wallace.
Choking Hazards: In 1979, the CPSC banned the sale of toys
for children younger than three if they contain small parts. The 1994
Child Safety Protection Act required an explicit choke hazard warning on toys
with small parts for children aged between three and six.
OSPIRG found toys for children under three with banned small parts and toys
with small parts for children under six without the required choke hazard
warning.
Other toy hazards found this year included toys containing other toxic
chemicals, excessively loud toys, and strangulation hazards.
“The
Consumer Product Safety Commission, or CPSC, is a little agency with a big job
it simply cannot do,” said Wallace. “Congress needs to give it the tools it
needs to do that big job better.”
Wallace called on Congress to pass the strongest possible
product safety reforms under consideration:
- Congress
should ban lead except at trace amounts to the level recommended by the
American Academy of Pediatrics, 40 parts per million or 15 times less than
the current allowable level of 600 ppm.
- Congress
should increase the budget and staffing of CPSC as much as possible. CPSC
has only one toy tester and a tiny force of 15 inspectors to check millions
of toys at hundreds of ports of entry.
- Congress
should require companies to guarantee that their products have been
subject to independent third party testing before they put them on toy
store shelves. Congress should also give CPSC more tools to punish
companies that break the law.
“It doesn’t matter whether a toy is made in China or made in Kansas,” said Wallace. “Companies need to
make sure that it is safe.”
Wallace also reminded parents that the toy list in the U.S.
PIRG report is only a sampling of the potential hazards on store shelves.
Shoppers should remember that no government agency tests toys. You should examine
all toys carefully for hidden dangers before you make a purchase this holiday
season, and watch for further recalls,” Wallace concluded.
