Tampa, Florida -- Hazardous toys are still sold in stores across the country, according to the 22nd annual toy safety survey released today by the Florida Public Interest Research Group (Florida PIRG).
"While we have seen progress after more than two decades of advocacy on behalf of America's littlest consumers, PIRG's researchers still found trouble in toyland on store shelves this month," said Florida PIRG's Consumer Advocate Brad Ashwell.
"For better or worse 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 Florida PIRG 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.
Florida PIRG'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 Florida PIRG report-small powerful magnets, choking hazards and toys with excessive levels of toxic lead,' Ashwell noted.
Among the findings of the 2007 Trouble In Toyland Report:
· 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 percent lead. PIRG 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 they found was 65 percent lead by weight, or over one thousand times current CPSC action levels.
"Lead poses serious health risks to children, yet consumers can still find lead-laden children's jewelry and lead painted toys on store shelves. That is unacceptable," said Congresswoman Kathy Castor. "We need to make manufacturers and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) accountable. Today, I want to assure my neighbors that we are working hard to help them have a safe and happy holiday in which they can bring home toys their kids can safely enjoy."
· 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 Playsets, for poorly designed magnets that fall out. Listed in the report are several examples of sloppily-designed or poorly-labeled magnetic toys found by PIRG researchers this fall.
"Swallowing a magnet is not like swallowing a penny," said Dr. Neil Reinhardt, associate director, Pediatric Emergency Department,
Tampa General Hospital. "Powerful magnets can wreak havoc inside the body."
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.
Florida PIRG 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 best holiday gift that Congress could give our children would be to pass a law that better protects them from unsafe toys," added Ashwell.
"The CPSC has a big responsibility in its hands. It cannot be playing games with our kids' safety," Castor continued. "While the agency's leaders were flying to conferences across the country on manufacturers' dime, our neighbors' kids were in danger. That cannot continue to happen. I will work hard to change course and make sure the agency does its job and responds to no one but the American people. We must do more to protect our children from unsafe toys. I am committed to passing the strong product safety reforms. Our neighbors deserve no less."
Some of the product safety reforms under consideration include:
* Banning lead except at trace amounts. The PIRG-backed HR 3691, the SAFE Consumer Product Act, sponsored by Rep. DeLauro (Conn.) and 150 co-sponsors, which would reduce all lead levels - in paint or in the product -- 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.
* Increasing the budget and staffing of CPSC. CPSC has only one toy tester and a tiny force of 15 inspectors to check millions of toys at hundreds of ports of entry.
* Requiring companies to guarantee that their products have been subject to independent third party testing before they put them on toy store shelves. This would include 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 Castor. "Companies and the CPSC need to make sure that it is safe."
Ashwell reminded parents to stay vigilant and that the toy list in the Florida PIRG report is only a sampling of the potential hazards on store shelves.
"Shoppers should examine all toys carefully for hidden dangers before making a purchase this holiday season, and watch for further recalls," Ashwell concluded.
