Toy Safety

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Trouble In Toyland: The 23rd Annual Survey of Toy Safety

Hazardous toys are still sold in stores across the country, despite a new law overhauling the nation’s product safety watchdog agency, according to the 23rd annual toy safety survey we released.

“While the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act is a major step forward, many of its protections don’t take effect until 2009, so it’s still ‘buyer beware’ for this shopping season,” said U.S. PIRG Public Health Advocate Liz Hitchcock. “Worse, last week the CPSC told companies that they could keep selling toys with toxic phthalate chemicals until they ran out of them, despite the law’s clear prohibition against selling them after Feb. 10.”

For regular updates, read the blog at static.uspirg.org/consumer.

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How You Can Help

Protect kids, not chemical companies

Last week the Consumer Product Safety Commission -- the agency charged with keeping toys and other products safe -- announced they would let manufacturers ignore Congress and allow them to sell toys laden with toxic phthalates until they run out.

Email the CPSC and tell them that toys with over-the-limit levels of phthalates need to come off the shelves by February 2009, as the law states.

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If you suspect you have a toxic dangerous toy or any unsafe product (coffeemaker, lawn mower, etc), report the incident to the CPSC either online at http://www.cpsc.gov/talk.html or over the phone at Toll-free Consumer Hotline: 800-638-2772 (TTY 800-638-8270). Send a copy to us at info@uspirg.org.

Overview

While most toys on store shelves are safe, we continue to find toys that pose a range of safety hazards to small children. As a result, parents and other child-care providers need to remain vigilant in order to prevent toy-related deaths and injuries.

Recently, U.S. PIRG broadened the scope of unsafe toys to include toys labeled as phthalate-free. Our analysis last year shows that even some products labeled phthalate-free contain the dangerous chemical.

Toy manufacturers should act swiftly to recall unsafe products and give parents the information they need to allow them to purchase safe toys for their children. U.S. PIRG and our allies have prompted recalls or regulatory action on over 100 toys.

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