Consumers Groups’ Holiday Report : Checking the Safety of Your Children’s Toys
Parents beware: There are more dangerous toys than ever before on sale now for the holidays.
While there are specific toys that could be harmful, entire classes of toys--from balloons and baby walkers to crib gyms and scooters--have been deemed potentially dangerous by the Consumers Affairs Committee of the Americans for Democratic Action and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
The 17th annual report of the ADA, a private, nonprofit group, also criticized the safety commission, the federal agency that oversees toys and other consumer goods and that has defended its year-round effort to eliminate dangerous play items.
The commission--which this year abandoned its tradition of listing banned or recalled toys in favor of offering parents safety tips--has reported toys could be blamed for causing 131,000 injuries last year, including 105,000 to children younger than 15.
‘Highly Dangerous’
Baby walkers, the ADA said, can tip over or topple down stairs, making them “highly dangerous,” and the safety commission received 20,790 injury reports last year about them.
The ADA also criticized crib gyms, noting the safety commission has reported they have caused 12 deaths and 662 other injuries in the past five years.
Besides these devices, which the safety commission said it would investigate, the agency also urged parents to take special care with riding toys, especially scooters.
Scooters alone accounted for 10,000 injuries last year; no apparent mechanical problems or defects have been found with them. But officials said children often abuse them, using them in unintended ways.
Other riding toys also injure thousands of children younger than 15: bicycle accidents accounted for 382,000 injuries; skateboards 68,000; sleds 22,000; and roller skates 44,000.
Beware of Balloons
Officials warned parents to heed cautions on some products, including balloons. The safety commission noted that in its 15 years of existence, it has recorded 115 balloon-related deaths, some by suffocation when youngsters picked up broken balloons and inhaled the pieces.
Other toys cited by the ADA panel as potentially dangerous:
- Inflatable sleds, some of which throw up snow that could blind the driver.
- Flammable items, including stuffed animals.
- Household-type toys urging children to imitate adults in a dangerous fashion; one electric oven, for example, could burn children, while an iron has a realistic-looking plug that could send youngsters to the nearest electrical outlet.
- Items dangerous if broken, including a toy doctor’s kit with realistic-looking plastic instruments that could break if a child inserts them in his face, throat, ears or eyes.
- Toys for babies, including rattles that could choke children because they don’t meet specified width requirements.
- Devices with inadequate or misleading age labels; some manufacturers, for example, label products with small parts as being “for ages over 3” though they still appeal to younger children.
Sturdy Construction
The safety commission is urging parents to look for sturdy construction, avoid toys for young children that have small parts or long strings and propelling or shooting objects.
The ADA also recommend that parents, when shopping, should:
- Look for sharp edges, small parts, projectiles and potential danger if the toy breaks. Toys with fabric in them should say the material is flame retardant or flame resistant. Painted toys should be nontoxic.
- Examine the actual toy, not the box. Scrutinize the contents to ensure they match the exterior picture.
- Consider a toy’s play value and whether children will genuinely enjoy the item or will be bored with it after 15 minutes.
