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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:
I remember some of the toys we had growing up in the 60's that would be considered dangerous today - Thingmakers that reached dangerously high temperatures, chemistry sets that could be used to make explosives, Jarts, etc. The toys on this year's list pale by comparison.
Agreed anyone remember Matel's shootin'shell 45 or VacuForm? I had them both still got all my fingers and both eyes!
Vacuform and thing-maker (also creepy-crawlers and other sets) were all the same little hot oven I burnt my fingers on. Taught me an appreciation for being careful. And ooo the smell of cooking plasticky rubber goo. LOL
I often wonder why todays younger generation doesn't recognize dangers it their Parents and US PRIGS and WATCH. If you don't grow up with some danger you don't know how to recognize it when you get there. I think we need to get the adults away from the kids for their long term safty.
Oh seriously. Go on and act as if it's bad to warn people who might not read carefully or think things through. If you don't want to see it just don't read the article and move on. Some of the things they sell are dangerous, and if you don't want to know that then why bother to comment here? Some aren't a big deal and some are, so I would think this way you can choose to read or not to and move on.
I wouldn't buy any toy that warned not to poke or hit because that is what kids do, and I wouldn't buy one that shot anything at 75 mph, either. The point of the guide is to point out toys that can be dangerous and you can choose as parents to buy it or not based on the information provided. It gives a choice and information and that is all it does. I want to know if a toy is way too loud before I buy it, but maybe you don't...cool beans! So don't read the article and let those who want to read it read it in peace without jeers.
@ram Heaven forbid people have a dissenting opinion!
It's not that, Drak. It's that so many took the time to come bash people for just saying be careful of this or that. I didn't say everyone had to think it was amazing and agree with all their choices, but this serves as a reminder to people to think a bit and look at what they are buying. Kids do get hurt and many times it's because they didn't read appropriate ages or picked dangerous toys. I guess I worked ER and saw too many kids hurt, so I saw a different side of this than a total dismissal. I have seen parents bring kids in who were hurt because the parents didn't think, and yes, I'm funny that way. I don't see the harm in putting information out to help parents, and then parents can choose to get a toy or not with the knowledge of recalls, warnings, bad design, or previous injuries.
I don't care if anyone reads it or thinks only sissies buy safe toys, but it seemed to me that most of the posts I read here were doing what you accused me of...bashing people for having a different opinion, and that was that making sure kids didn't get dangerous toys for Christmas or that at least parents were aware of hazards. I am all for information getting out and all the ridicule of people trying to help people was just what you said in my view. My point was to each her/his own, but having the information was nice for those who wanted it available.
I agree. I grew up with toys that had parts small enough to choke, sharp enough to cut an artery, hot enough to burn down the Empire State Building, poisonous enough to kill an elephant, along with those things that had to be plugged into an outlet already overloaded with enough plugs to electrocute Godzilla, and somehow I, and my friends who had all of the same, survived without an injury (let alone a death). But today kids, with all the government and paranoid "interest" groups oversites, can't help but seem to be sent to the great playground in the sky. Why is that?
It's because of the parents. Today's parents look upon their kids as major household appliances conceived to give them "fullfillment," while expecting others to take care of them. Heaven forbid that parents tend to their own kids - parents have "careers" that are too important (so they can "afford" to buy stuff for their kids that the parents don't want to oversee).
If one doesn't have the time to care for ones children, one shouldn't have them. If one chooses to do, whatever happens is the result of the parents, not some toy company.
(David N.'s wife here.) @ Jerry #1.7: DITTO! Well said.
I never bought my kids any toys.
But I did let them run around the house with sharp pencils and scissors.
They still have both eyes, all their limbs, fingers and no scars.
Jerry, it is not so simple that parents have careers that are more important than the children they breed. It is a much more complex situation than that.
Our young women are educated and they have careers. What do we expect them to do with their educations? Shall they sit out their young life and stay home with the children? Who is going to support the family? It is not easy for a woman, or for anyone, to step out and back into a career.
It is not that they are working just to buy excess material possessions for the kids.
I had a Thingmaker - and I remember making some pretty cool stuff with it. I also had an Easy-Bake Oven (powered by a pair of dangerously hot, 100-watt. incandescent light bulbs), and all kinds of other things that would be deemed 'too dangerous' in today's social climate. I also had parents that paid attention to what I was doing, read the instructions with me, and let me know that not following the safety precautions would be grounds for the toy in question to disappear. I think I burned my finger on the Thingmaker one time, purely by accident. I got a little blister about the size of a pencil point, we put ice on it and it got better. No one rushed me to the ER in a panic. No one thought about suing the company. People took responsibility for their own actions, and, unfortunately, that's something that's gone out of style in today's increasingly litigious society. Organizaions like US PRIG and WATCH might have had good reasons for starting up, but, like most orgainzations with such a cause, they have to continually look for new things to justify their continued existance (not to mention funding), and sometimes it seems like they go overboard. I suppose that there's no real harm in putting information out there to the effect that certain things can hurt your kids, but the sad truth is that the people most likely to end up bringing their kids to the ER with injuries from toys are the same ones that didn't supervise their kids, and didn't pay attention to whatever safety precautions or other such information anyway.
Let us guess---- MADE IN CHINA ??!!! No surprise here.
Most toys are designed here in the good ole USA for manufacture overseas.
Usually the labels on the box and sticker 'MADE IN CHINA' should be enough of a warning that the product is most likely defective and dangerous for any use. The fact that they used lead paint on children's toys should give you a clue as their concern about the end user.
It is as MIke said---most toys are designed in the US for production overseas. The factory is making the toys to the specification of Mattel, or, whoever. Of course, not all toys are made by Mattel.
Yes, keep your kids inside in a padded room, no sharp objects or access to things which may be toxic, hot, or electrical. Also no strings or bands of any type as these could conceivably choke the little angels. Probably best to bind them hand and foot with blindfolds and earmuffs until they are legally adults.
On a related story- horizontal surfaces have been determined to be dangerous for children, and all people, so stay clear of all horizontal surfaces. Do not let your children play on any horizontal surface.
Bwahahaha! Outstanding!...
Everything is dangerous for everyone these days! Lets all just live in a bubble, geesh!
Bubbles are dangerous too... what if you trip?
It is called parenting folks. You think about what you buy your kids and you read the instructions with them and then you supervise them to make sure they are using the toys correctly.
I am often amused at articles like this. I know that probably most of the toys I played with were much more dangerous than those sold today and many have been discontinued.
Truth is that any toy no matter how safe it may seem to be can be a hazard.
Of course the biggest problem is parents who are not concerned about the hazards a toy they my purchase for their child. They see a toy they think is cool, purchase it and give it to their child, with no regard to any warning the toy might have. I have seen parents do this over and over and over and have probably been guilty of doing so myself.
And of course if a parent’s child is injured/dies for any reason related to the toy they
want to blame or sue somebody because of their own ignorance. And too often they win.
Often warnings are there for one purpose, to meet some kind of legal requirement that does not mean squat in the real world with so many shyster attorneys around.
All toys can be thrown or tripped over. Doesn't that make all toys dangerous?
Burgomesiter Meisterburger lives! That was exactly why he banned all the toys in Santa Claus is Comin' to Town--and that was made in the 1960s! Funny how Poe's Law can be reflected in real life...
That include the Chinese sex toys in other article? Some guy staring close up at something that resembled womans torso. I suppose w/not enough women for all the Chinese men they gotta give them something.
Idiot people's children should not have toys.
Does anyone remember lawn darts? Foot long metal pointy darts that kids would launch at a target, usually each other. Those were the days...
I think that way back in the corner of my parents basement, there is STILL a set of lawn darts. Loved those things!
They were called JartOs. Talk about crazy. Loved it.
I'll bet the slip and slide wouldn't stand a chance today. Neither would the Whammo sling shot.
Jarts! Boo-yah! "High-Speed Impalement Toys"! We had a set when I was just a lad, and somehow I didn't get killed! Who'd'a'thunk? Of course, the fact that my parents wouldn't let me play with them when they weren't there to supervise had something to do with it...
Cat, that's the whole problem with a lot of parents nowadays. They're too busy with all their gadgets to pay attention to what their children are doing. Like you, I had Jarts (and similar toys) as a kid but no way in hell were my brother and I allowed to play with them unless one or both parents were around.
How about the Water Wiggle How many years was it out before it was discontinued because of parents not supervising/watching the under age limit children playing with it.
And the Lawn Darts, anyone remember the Lawsuit where the parents purchased the darts at an adult sporting good store and the darts were rated for 16 and older. The they gave the darts to I think it was 5 or 6 years old and a kid got his eye put out.
They sued the store and the manufacture and won, even though it was thier neglanse that led to the inujry.
Most of the musical toys are too loud. I put tape over the speakers to muffle the sound. If I don't,my daughter won't play with it. I have the Dora guitar and I did the same thing to it. She's gotten toys that were even louder than that guitar.
"Only one toy violated the new federal standard for lead."
Great, now can you please tell me which toy???????????!
Yes, that would be pertinent information to the story.
Just let natural selection take it's course. If they can't figure out not to stand in front of the waterballon launcher, they have bigger issues.
I still have my lawn jarts, and no scars....from them
A toy guitar that is "too loud"? This is what constitutes a "dangerous" toy these days? I remember when all the best toys had sharp moving parts and shooting mechanisms. Kids today are too soft.
Yeah! Maybe they should only allow guitars that play soft elevator music!
No strings, of course. Man, you could be strangled on those things!
I guess they're worried about hearing damage. My nephews had a toy cell phone when they were little. This was back in the days when cell phones were the size of a brick. It was cute but the speaker was in the earpiece of the phone. We put tape over it to muffle the sound but it was still too loud for the kids to be putting up to their ear so we tossed it.
It's pretty funny that they're worried about hearing damage when the kids just put earbuds in their ears and crank up those mp3's. I agree with Cameron Ford, we are raising our kids to be too soft. (as far as toys go)
LisaB carries the point, Rieko--earbuds are little more than sound cannons pointed straight at the eardrums...
Made in China? End of story.
If WATCH had its way chidren woul;d have no toys. They have freakin Big Wheels (and "other" tricycles) on their list because "The low proximity of the toy to the ground prevents motorists from seeing children riding this toy." Well DUH!!! Don't let your kids ride in the street and teach them to be wary of driveways. Man... I loved my Big Wheel!!! Just the most fun!!!
Batmans Batmobile because "Rear tail wings come to a point, posing a potential puncture or laceration hazard." YEA... If your kids are idiots or prone to violence in which case you have bigger issues than a mere toy.
SHEESH!!!
Kids today are bubble-wrapped compared to when I was a kid. Back then, no one wore helmets, knee pads, shin guards and wrist braces to ride their bike or skateboard. The old-fashioned playground equipment are long gone. I don't even know if you can find a swing set in a park or playground anymore. I remember 8-foot high jungle gyms made out of iron bars and imbedded in a cement pad and 6-foot high steel slides that burned the back of your thighs on a sunny afternoon and playing "who can swing the highest".
It's the same with television. If watch groups had their way, kids would never see a Warner Brothers cartoon again. Between Elmer Fudd's shotgun and Wile E Coyote's dynamite, those cartoons are considered "violent" by today's standards.
There was a Japanese superhero on TV in the 1970's that was super-popular in Hawaii. People, even kids, were actually killed by the bad robots in those stories. Compare that to the first season of Power Rangers, where the big crisis was that the pig monster was eating all the food at the festival. Restrictions have gotten much stricter since the time when I was a child.
Don't forget all the playground equipment was surrounded by tan bark and not this soft foamy stuff they have now, You used to drink water from a hose and not a bottle. Don't forget speed racer in the opening credits a couple of cars flew off a cliff and blew up
Lawn Darts, best way to thin the herd. We always put the dumb kid down by the target. lol, just kidding. We had things that blew up when we were kids, bang site cannons, and I still have all of my fingers, go figure.
Some of the video games that come out these days are so addictive they should come with health warnings about getting exercise and sunlight....
I remember that I had the Creeple Peeple thingmaker that someone mentioned above. Man that thing got HOT but I loved it. Got it when I was 5. Parents taught me how to use it. I was warned that if I burned myself with it I would no longer be allowed to play with it. Guess who was a very careful 5 year old. Maybe got a small burn or two but that was it. Yep, I too loved the smell of that goop cooking on the burner. Glad I was a kid then and not now.
Toys are hereby declared illegal, immoral, unlawful AND anyone found with a toy in his possession will be placed under arrest and thrown in the dungeon. No kidding!
Burgermeister Meisterburger
Multiple thumbs-up for the Santa Claus in Comin' to Town citation! Maybe PIRG would consider Fred Astaire a health hazard if they had their way in the matter...
The best thing about these reports. I collect 'dangerous toys' never know when one of them is going to be a jackpot item in the future. Take 'Johnny Spaceman' it's a plastic bag that kids can wrap around their noggins like a space helmet. That's a real winner. (item depicted is from SNL skit circa late 70s early 80s with Dan Akroyd and Loraine Newman or Gilda Radner)
How about the Bag-O-Glass? That was in the same skit. And I think it was actually Jane Curtain. I might be wrong, but I seem to remember how she was giving Dan Akroyd that 'are-you-kidding-me?' look while he was going through his sales pitch.
All we are allowed to teach kids now is , How to be a pussy and if you get hurt , How to sue some one
its all the high tech. stuff we should be keeping from kids till they are 18+