This year toys with the potential to seriously harm or kill children continue to be found on store shelves, in catalogues and on e-retailers’ websites.
World Against Toys Causing Harm publishes its list each year with the warning that consumers should be proactive in shopping to make sure the toys they buy are safe.
“These particular toys are illustrative of some hazards in toys being sold to consumers, and should not be considered as the only potentially hazardous toys on the market,” James A. Swartz, attorney and W.A.T.C.H. director, said in a statement.
W.A.T.C.H. warns that parents and caregivers need to know what dangers to look for when they purchase toys for children this holiday season and year-round. Unfortunately, there have been many deaths and injuries to children as a result of poorly designed and tested toys.
Many of these injuries can be prevented with education about the dangers lurking in toy boxes. The recurrence of many known hazards in toys, as well as numerous recalls in the past year, are clearly suggestive of a broken system that needs fixing before more children are harmed.
In the twelve month period since W.A.T.C.H.’s last “10 Worst Toys” conference, there have been at least 16 toy recalls representing 495,140 units of dangerous toys in the U.S. and Canada.
W.A.T.C.H.’s “10 Worst Toys” list, a hands-on tool for consumers, raises awareness of the different types of hazards to avoid while toy shopping. One focus of this year’s conference will be on the safety hazards to watch out for while making Internet purchases.
In 2012, 47.3 percent of consumers plan to look for holiday gifts online . While such purchase methods make toy shopping convenient and more efficient, Internet toy shoppers are often provided with less product information prior to purchase.
Many of the toys displayed and available for purchase on-line, for example, have retailer warnings and age recommendations that are inconsistent with those supplied by manufacturers.
In some cases, the warnings may be omitted from the Internet description completely. Such omissions and inconsistencies regarding important safety information can lead to misinformed, and potentially dangerous, consumer purchases.
Consumers buying toys on the Internet are already at a disadvantage not being able to touch and physically inspect a toy and its packaging for more obvious hazards. Without important safety information, an on-line toy shopper may not know hazards of a purchase at the time of sale.
While there has been recent increased focus on toy safety by the government, dangerous toys are not a new problem. For four decades, W.A.T.C.H. has identified toys defectively designed or manufactured that could lead to serious injuries or death. Despite these efforts, there remain an alarming number of dangerous toys on retail shelves.
In the U.S., more than 3 billion toys and games are sold each year. The Consumer Product Safety Commission reported that in 2010 alone, there were at least 17 toy-related deaths to children less than 15 years old and an estimated 251,700 toy-related injuries treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms.
Continued vigilance is needed to protect against enduring toy hazards that could lead to serious injury or death. Awareness of classic toy dangers that reappear year after year, such as, small parts, strings, projectiles, rigid materials and other defects that lead to choking, impact injuries, strangulation, burns, impalement, lacerations and puncture injuries, can save lives.
Small parts on toys have been a perpetual, often deadly and overlooked hazard. There remain a number of toys on store shelves with easily detachable small parts or affixed small parts that can be aspirated, ingested or occlude a child’s airway.
Young children are at risk when they are able to break off pieces of shoddily made or inadequately designed toys. These classic hidden hazards, which have led to many incidents of deaths and brain damage, can still be found in newly designed toys. The seven toys posing a choking risk recalled by the CPSC in the preceding 12 months, representing approximately 437,150 defective units in the U.S. and Canada, highlight the continued problem of small parts reaching the marketplace.
The best weapon in the fight to prevent injuries to children continues to be safely designed and manufactured products. The burden must be on manufacturers and retailers, not consumers, to identify the known hazards before their products enter the channels of commerce.
There is an assumption among toy shoppers that all toys purchased from big-name manufacturers and retailers are safe and seeing a familiar name on a package can lead to a false sense of security.
While proper labeling, regulations and recalls are important for toy safety, toy manufacturers have a responsibility to ensure safe products reach the marketplace. Certain toys on toy store shelves may be in compliance with industry or regulatory standards, but are clearly dangerous, proving the gross inadequacy of existing standards.
For instance, toys with parts that can detach and become lodged in a child’s throat are often not considered “small parts” by the industry. Recalls are also reactive, not proactive, and many consumers never receive notice of toy recalls and may not know that a dangerous toy sits like a time bomb in their child’s toy box.
The “10 Worst Toys” list is one of the ways W.A.T.C.H. continues the fight to protect children from unsafe toys against a $20 billion per oear toy and game industry. Protecting children will, however, take more than a list of illustrative harmful toys.
Safety for children in the year 2012 and beyond will only occur when preventing injuries caused by unsafe toys becomes the number one priority for the toy industry and the government regulatory agencies.
According to W.A.T.C.H., these are the 10 most dangerous kids toys for the 2012 shopping season:
Magnetic Fishing Game: This “fishing game” is sold online for16-month-old children, however, the packaging contains a warning of a choking hazard for children under 3 years old. The plastic fishing pole uses common twine to attach a small, magnetic lure. The brightly-colored plastic lure, whether detached or connected to the approximately 9”-long cord, poses a serious potential choking hazard for oral-age children.
Bongo Ball: Children as young as 3 years old are encouraged to “[c]limb inside” this colorful inflatable ball, in order to “Bounce, Spin, Roll, Tumble!” The box, which portrays unsupervised children playing with the oversized inflatable ball, cautions that adult supervision is “required”. However, the toy itself indicates that adult supervision is only “recommended”.
Dart Zone Quick Fire 12 Dart Gun: The manufacturer of this dart gun with two “revolving barrels” encourages children to load the ammunition cartridge and fire “6 [d]arts in [s]econds!” Despite the manufacturer’s directive that this toy not be sold for children younger than 6 years old, it was marketed online for babies as young as 7 months old. The gun can shoot the supplied darts with enough force to potentially cause eye injuries.
Spinner Shark 4-Wheel Kneeboard: The manufacturer of this dart gun with two “revolving barrels” encourages children to load the ammunition cartridge and fire “6 [d]arts in [s]econds!” Despite the manufacturer’s directive that this toy not be sold for children younger than 6 years old, it was marketed online for babies as young as 7 months old. The gun can shoot the supplied darts with enough force to potentially cause eye injuries.
Explore & Learn Helicopter: Despite the industry’s standard requiring strings on playpen and crib toys to be less than 12 inches in length, manufacturers are still permitted to market “pull toys” such as this “Vtech Baby Explore & Learn Helicopter” with a cord measuring approximately 24 inches. Sold to reward “baby’s curiosity”, the manufacturer “encourages little ones to discover and learn with a cute puppy friend!” The toy is intended for babies as young as 12 months old and thus, is a prime candidate for crib and playpen injuries.
N-Force Vendetta Double Sword: Young children are encouraged to combine two swords into one “Megablade” in order to “arm yourself for the ultimate battle experience….” The “double sword” measures “over 4.5 feet long!” The blade has the potential to cause facial or other impact injuries.
Water Balloon Launcher: This water balloon “launcher” is marketed with the capability to shoot water balloons “at high speeds of up to 75 mph.” Remarkably, the device, which the manufacturer admits “[c]an cause severe injury or facial damage….”, was marketed and sold by at least one online retailer for babies as young as 8 months old. Balloons are also well known by the toy industry as posing a significant risk of choking, and are, therefore, not permitted to be sold for use by oral-age children.
Power Rangers Super Samurai Shogun Helmet: The manufacturer encourages children to “become a Power Ranger” by donning “battle gear”, including this “shogun helmet”. The headgear includes an attachable “crown” with pointed, rigid plastic tips as long as approximately 9,” with the potential for penetrating impact and puncture wound injuries.
Playful Xylophone: This toy xylophone includes colorful blocks of various sizes, which can be arranged & rearranged, allowing oral-age children to “create [their] own melodies!” Babies as young as twelve months old are encouraged to use a supplied slender, wooden dowel as a drumstick to play music on the xylophone. The approximately 5” drumstick, which is not connected to the xylophone, could be mouthed and occlude a child’s airway.
The Avengers Gamma Green Smash Fists: These oversized fists, resembling those of a popular Marvel comic book and movie character, are sold to enable three year olds to “be incredible like The Hulk” by “smashing everything that gets in their way!” No warnings or cautions are provided.
