Toxic toys to avoid this holiday season

Some of the toys contain toxic chemicals such as chromium or phthalatest that can impact a child’s development.

But risky toys are no joke to World Against Toys Causing Harm (WATCH), a safety watchdog that has selected the most potentially harmful toys each holiday season for the last 43 years.

In preliminary tests, the group also found high levels of the heavy metal chromium in three toys.

According to Corinne Santoro, a campaign organizer for CALPIRG, these reports have led at least 150 recalls over 30 years. Despite some recent progress in getting unsafe toys off the shelves, the report showed that several toys are still unfit for little ones. The Trouble In Toyland Report says the slinky junior and alphabet magnets found at Target and the dollar store are on the list. Safety standards include limits on toxic substances in children’s products, size requirements for toys for small children, warning labels about choking hazards, measures to keep magnets and batteries inaccessible, and noise limits.

“It’s not only small kids, it’s just curious kids, wondering what this tastes like, and just putting something in their mouth”. We believe it is a cause for concern, and we call on the CPSC to do further testing.

This is the 30th year that PIRG has issued its hazardous toy report, and toy safety has improved in that time, DeRosa said.

Basmajian also said one out of seven children between the ages of 6 and 17 have signs of hearing loss, some of which could be attributed to excessively loud toys. Smart Wheels, Vtech Go! Go! Smart Animals, Vtech Spin & Learn Color Flashlight, Fisher Price Click n Learn Remote, and Leap Frog Fridge Phonics Magnetic Letter Set from Target that, while they don’t violate federal standards, were found to be extremely loud at the ear and at a distance. We found Sizzlers noise magnets from Family Dollar, and Singing magnets from Dollar Tree that are “near-small-parts” which, while they don’t violate federal standards, are small enough to be swallowed and can cause severe internal damage. CoPIRG found Magic Towels packaged as small baseballs and footballs at Dollar Tree without an appropriate warning label.

“The 2008 Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act strengthened the Consumer Product Safety Commission and gave it new authority to protect children from unsafe products”, said Rachel Weintraub, legislative director and general counsel at Consumer Federation of America. However, not all toys comply with the law.

“Every year millions of children are brought to emergency rooms with injuries that could be prevented”, Dr. Leslie Pelinka, a PeaceHealth Pediatrician, said.