Trouble in Toyland: Potentially Harmful Toys Found in Stores

“The most common hazards posed by toys are the invisible ones – the toxic substances you can’t see with the naked eye”, said Melissa Cubria, director of the nonprofit, who added that all of the toys on the list are available in Austin. No toxic toys were found. Instead, CoPIRG focused on toy choking hazards and those that could damage a child’s hearing.

It found the Fun Bubbles jump rope from Dollar Tree, which had 10 times the legal limit of the banned phthalate DEHP (tested at 10,000 ppm), and also had 190,000 ppm of the toxic phthalate DIBP which has not yet been banned.

Another offender was a Disney Pixar Finding Nemo toy purchased at a Five Below which Moye said committed a label violation by not disclosing that it contains a choking hazard. “There are many toys on the shelves that continue to pose a hazard to kids such as magnets and loud toys that could threaten children’s hearing and balloons, as an example”. Just because a toy is stocked on store shelves doesn’t mean it’s entirely safe for children. While still abiding by safety regulations, these toys should be avoided if they’re small enough that a child would place it near his ears. U.S. PIRG has been releasing its Trouble in Toyland report for 30 years which has led to more than 150 recalls and other regulatory actions. The group said data provided by some non-government organizations are unreliable and fail to support allegations that certain toys are unsafe.

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

While the report didn’t survey every toy at every store, it found 22 potentially hazardous toys sold at places like Dollar Tree and Target. Our shoppers identified several toys that contain or may break into small parts, but either do not have the correct US statutory warning label, or any warning label at all.

NJPIRG collects the items from New Jersey toy stores and tests them in laboratories.

“Phthalates are part of plastic production that has been implemented in neurobehavioral developmental delay in very young children”, said Mills.

Her group has warned about such lists “needlessly frightening parents.”

24 toys were included on this year’s state list.

Here is the full report from the OSPIRG.