Holiday shoppers will find plenty of hazardous toys that can choke, strangle and poison children, a consumer group warned Tuesday.
The Public Interest Research Group issued its 20th annual toy-safety survey, concentrating on toys that cause choking or strangulation, contain toxic chemicals and that are excessively loud.
“One toy-related death is one too many,” said Rachel Liston, a consumer advocate with the Colorado Public Interest Research Group.
Although balloons and small balls remain the leading cause of toy-related death and injuries, PIRG’s study said that plastic, stretchy, yo-yo water balls can cause choking and other injuries.
The yo-yo ball is attached to a stretchy bungee cord that can wrap around a child’s neck, causing suffocation or strangulation, PIRG’s study noted. The balls, which can also contain toxic water, were banned in Illinois, Liston said.
Liston also warned parents to avoid toys containing a class of chemicals called Phthalates, used to soften toys made of hard PVC plastic, such as teething rings.
Although some manufacturers have begun labeling products as “phthalate-free,” laboratory tests commissioned by PIRG found phthalates in six of the eight products so labeled.
As a result, PIRG recommends that parents avoid the toys even if they’re labeled “phthal ate-free.” Exposure to the chemical during pregnancy or early childhood can cause reproductive problems, early puberty and cancer, according to the study.
Liston said parents can shop for safe toys for small children by taking along an empty toilet paper roll. If toys can fit within the roll, then they aren’t safe because they can easily be swallowed, Liston said.
Liston cited Consumer Product Safety Commission statistics to note that in 2004, 16 children died from toy-related injuries and three-fourths of the 210,000 people who were treated in emergency rooms nationwide for toy-related injuries were younger than 15.
For more information about the toy safety study and unsafe toys, check the website www.toysafety.net.
Staff writer Annette Espinoza can be reached at 303-820-1655 or aespinoza@denverpost.com.
