21 Toys Called Hazards for Those Under 3 : Children: A survey by a private research group urges parents not to assume that products are safe. Federal officials will investigate the charges.
Two days before the biggest shopping day of the year, a private research organization on Wednesday cited 21 toys--including three distributed by California firms--for posing potential dangers to children under the age of 3.
“Parents should not assume that the toys they find on the shelves are safe,” said Lucinda Sikes, staff attorney for Public Interest Research Groups, which conducted a two-month survey of toys in 14 states.
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commissioner Anne Graham said in an interview that the federal agency would investigate the products cited by the research group “as soon as possible” in an effort to evaluate their safety .
“Some of them are clearly in violation of federal law and can probably be taken off the shelves by Christmas,” Graham said.
The research group’s survey, called “Trouble in Toyland,” focused on toys and crib gyms that pose strangulation hazards, primarily for children under the age of 3. In most cases, the toys have small, detachable parts that could be swallowed by infants.
The survey said the number of toy-related injuries treated at hospitals has climbed steadily in recent years, increasing from 131,000 in 1987 to 148,000 in 1989. Nationwide, 33 children have died in toy-related accidents so far this year, the organization said. Representatives of two of the three California firms listed in the report took issue with its findings.
One product, Baby’s First Birthday Balloons, was cited for not including a written warning of specific choking hazard from popped or uninflated balloons. But a spokesman for the distributor, Trisar Inc. of Anaheim, said it had amended its label in July warning that the balloons can pose a hazard for children up to the age of 6.
A second California toy listed by the research group was the Mickeytown Ice Cream Playset, a Disney Toys product distributed by Mattel Inc. of Hawthorne. The report said a detachable counter top posed a potential strangulation hazard.
Mattel spokesman Glenn Bozarth said the firm would review the product in light of the research. “But it wouldn’t still be on the market if a single serious incident had occurred with this product,” Bozarth said from a division office in San Diego.
The third California product was “Snoopy plush toy in tuxedo,” distributed by a firm identified as Applause of Hawthorne. Public Interest Research Groups said the stuffed animal had a detachable bow tie and no age labeling.
Other products and distributors cited by the organization included Spring N’ Bounce cars, YDC of York, Pa.; Jeep Jr. 4x4, Kransco, San Francisco; Scoot Along Miss, Empire of Carolina Inc.; wooden cars, CE Ets R. Lorge of France; Nashco Train Puzzle, Airplane Puzzle and Farm Puzzle, Nashco Products Inc., Scranton, Pa.
Also, Siamese Stuffed Cat, Gund Inc., Edson, N.J.; Unique Party Favors--4x4 Jeeps, Unique Industries, Philadelphia; Mini Mite Car Transport, Henry Gordy International Inc., Plainfield, N.J.; Toy Cowboy Hat, distributor unknown; Friction Powered Mini Blender and Mixer, YDC of York, Pa.
Also, Little Angel Doll, distributor unknown; Toys’n Action Twirl’A’Way Plane, distributor unknown; Party Favors--Six Balloon Whistles, distributor uncertain; Baby Exerciser, Battat Inc., Montreal; Sesame Street Crib & Play Ten Toy with Peek-a-Boo Mirror, Illco Toy Co., New York, and Baby Trainer crib gym, distributor unknown.
