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Subscribe to RSSU.S. Public Interest Research Group warns parents about this year's most dangerous toys. NBC's Chris Clackum reports.
Toys are fun, but they can also be dangerous. Two reports released on Tuesday remind us that we need to remain vigilant when we go toy shopping.
For its annual "Trouble in Toyland" report, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) examined more than 200 toys and found about a dozen that it believes could be dangerous to children.
These include a Dora guitar made by Fisher Price that was too loud, a dragster car with small rubber traction bands on the wheels that could be a choking hazard and a novelty desktop toy with powerful magnets small enough to be swallowed.
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“We should be able to trust that the toys we buy are safe. However, until that’s the case, parents need to watch out for common hazards when shopping for toys,” said Nasima Hossain, public health advocate for U.S. PIRG, in a statement.
PIRG tested the toys for lead and other toxins. Only one toy violated the new federal standard for lead. No toys or jewelry exceeded voluntary industry standards for cadmium. And none of the plastic toys had levels of phthalates – a potentially harmful chemical used to soften plastic – above federal standards.
“We are not aware of the testing procedures used by PIRG, but at Mattel, we are extremely careful in establishing appropriate volume levels in all of our toys," Fisher Price told TODAY. "Our Dora Tunes Guitar fully complies with U.S. and international toy standards regarding sound levels in toys. We have also worked closely with established audiologists to confirm that these standards are safe and appropriate for children based on sound science."
The 10 worst toys
The advocacy group W.A.T.C.H warned parents that toys “with the potential to seriously harm or kill children continue to be found on store shelves, in catalogues, and on e-retailers’ websites.”
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It’s annual “10 Worst Toys” list, includes products from well-known manufacturers and sold at big-name retail stores. The potential hazards include strangulation, choking, eye injuries, impact injuries and puncture wounds. A few specific examples:
- Vtech’s “Explore and Learn Helicopter,” a pull toy recommended for children 12 to 36 months, made the W.A.T.C.H. list because of its approximately 24-inch cord. That’s long enough to create the potential for strangulation.
- Bandai’s "Super Samurai Shogun Helmet" has an attachable crown with pointed tips made from rigid plastic. The package warns not to hit or poke anyone with the toy. W.A.T.C.H. says the 9” tips have the potential for “penetrating impact and puncture wound” injuries.
- A water balloon launcher made by Water Sports, LLC and sold on Amazon.com claims to have the capability to shoot balloons at speeds up to 75 mph. The manufacturer’s warning reads: “Can cause severe injury or facial damage…”
Water Sports told TODAY it meets all federal regulations and warning requirements. “We take safety very seriously and would not wish to intentionally or unintentionally cause harm to anyone as we are in the business of family fun,” said Kerrie Boss, a vice president at Water Sports, the maker of the balloon launcher.
For this 40th annual “10 Worst Toys”list, W.A.T.C.H. focused on items sold via the Internet. Buying toys this way creates its own challenges because you can’t see or touch the toy before purchase and look for obvious hazards.
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W.A.T.C.H. found that many toys available online have retailer warnings and age recommendations that “are inconsistent with those supplied by manufacturers.” In some cases, the warnings are not there at all.
“Such omissions and inconsistencies regarding important safety information can lead to misinformed, and potentially dangerous, consumer purchases,” W.A.T.C.H. stated in its news release.
More Info:
- CPSC: Think Toy Safety
- U.S. PIRG: Toy Safety
- Consumer Reports: Toy Buying Guide
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Herb Weisbaum is The ConsumerMan. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter or visit The ConsumerMan website.
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Leave a Comment:
Hey! Playing with Lawn Darts as a kid prepared me for my career as a javelin catcher at the Olympics. How cool is that?
Don't recall having a lot of toys as a kid. Christmas was one toy and a bag of fruit. Funny it's the fruit I remember most. As far as danger went. I played in the woods most days. Now and then rode a pine tree to the ground as a cousin chopped it down with a hatchet. We played with knives too. Had a few bb gun fights. Some rock throwing. Played outside in lightning storms. I grew up safe and sound. I did teach my kids not to point bb guns at each other. If they grow up all protected from everything they have to learn the hard way at an older age. Young and dumb is better than old and dumb. You also figure out it's your fault not someone else's when you do something dumb at a young age.
I guess the children that died or were seriously injured doing some of these things was ok. I look at it as luck.
Anyone remember shrinky dinks? We used to use transparencies to trace pictures then put them in the oven to shrink down. We always used a real oven, not the little toy ovens. No one ever seemed to have a problem. I think I got more injuries playing outside than with toys. Should we ban nature and outdoor play?
PS. They are still available. And you do use a real oven.
Does anyone know where I could purchase a beginner's flame thrower? I really want to make this Christmas special for my 8-year-old.
I wonder how many warning labels need to be attached to that favorite childhood toy "The Stick"? The one little girls and boys use as a sword, a baton, a gun, any number of things. When we were little, that was our best, most available, outdoor toy!
I remember it well--and PIRG would be having convulsions at the thought of it. Putting out eyes, impalement, broken bones... *sigh*
I remember when we were little having walnut wars. We had a tree in the back yard that grew the big, green English walnuts. We would gather them, run into the field and throw them at each other. If we got hit in the head we couldn't go running into the house and tell because then we would have gotten a spanking for doing something we weren't supposed to be doing. Ok, so maybe we weren't the smartest kids in the world, but we were outside playing, having fun!
I hate to tell these dummies but it is imposible to watch a child 24-7. If we kept every thing from them that was harmful to them they would have to live in a bubble. They would have nothing to play with and very little to eat or drink as most everything is harmful.
Toys these days are lame azz!
Got a REAL steam engine at age 10 that could power a generator, and if you were not careful put a nasty blister on your finger.
Taught appreciation for design, mechanics, and safety.
Probably took those off the market when little Johnny tried to inflate his sex-doll with the whistle...
I remember my real Marx O-gauge train, complete with a transformer which heated up like an oven and was connected to the track with bare-ended wires I had to connect by hand. I imagine if you wanted to give a PIRG evaluator a coronary, you could have him check out one of those train sets...
Marry Christmas!!!!!!!!
Thank you very much, but it would be bigamy if I did... *ba-dum-bump*
“We should be able to trust that the toys we buy are safe. However, until that’s the case, parents need to watch out for common hazards when shopping for toys,”
No, we shouldn't just be able to blindly stumble through life trusting that everything we see and encounter has been determined to be safe by a panel of experts. We are responsible for making our own judgments about what is safe and what is dangerous. We as parents should always be watching out for hazardous toys and making our own assessment regard our children's readiness to play with certain toys. Labels that say a toys is for "5 and Up" doesn't mean that the toy is right for your 5 year old if they don't yet have the skills or judgment to handle it.
This attitude that the government is failing us if it allows marginally unsafe toys to be released, or that corporations are failing us because they produce toys that could be misused in a dangerous fashion, is simply, well, childish.
We should not live in, nor is it desirable to live in, a world completely wall off from all risks, dangers, and hazards. Life should not be a Star Trek Holodeck set in safe mode.
I'm with George Carlin and "The Onion" on this. Anybody who kills themselves with this stuff is too stupid to live. Any kid old enough to know better than to avoid mortal injury by misusing any of these toys has no excuse, and any parent who buys something that is likely to injure their kids are likely passing those genes along to the young 'uns, so consider it a pre-emptive strike. It's Mother Nature in action, thinning out the shallow end of the gene pool.
Those water balloon launchers are a real blast! But I wouldn't recommend them for kids, they are definitely an adult toy.
I agree. This is completely stupid. If you have to depend on these groups to tell you what toys to buy your kids for Christmas rather than actually making those decisions yourself based on everything you know about your kids, you have bigger problems than what toys to buy your kids for Christmas.
I agree with most people here - our toys were WAY more dangerous, yet we survived. Parent your kids and use some common sense.
Whilst I am a bit young... I hate all this plastic crap. Personally I think its moar dsangerous then the Creeple Peeple thingmaker. When I was younger I was invited to my friends house and I left thinking, does that kid have a mother? The problem is not the toys. The problem is the parents, my rules would be corperal punishment and strict warnings about toys.
That's why I lock my kids in the closet all day long.
They toys now are cheap plastic also. I remember back when they had those big metal tonka trucks with the pressed metal dump bed, and how the transfomers were heavier and not so cheap and looking and feeling.