MASSPIRG details toys that could hurt your kid

SALEM ? If dangerous toys were criminals depicted on wanted posters at the local post office, the playthings brought under the limelight by student activists Tuesday at Salem State College would be prime candidates.The Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group unveiled its 23rd annual toy safety report at the campus student center.Click here to see a safe buying guide for holiday shopping.According to MASSPIRG organizer Eileen McGivney, the initiative has led to corrective action on more than 130 toys over the last two decades.The focus on dangerous toys in 2008 was given additional credence in light of last year’s record-breaking recall of more than 25 million unsafe playthings, mostly made in China where toxic lead paint is often applied and small parts easily break off to present a choking hazard.”While the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act is a major step forward, many of its protections won’t be in effect until 2009, so it’s still buyer beware for this shopping season,” McGivney said. “Consumers shopping for children better watch out for choking and toxic hazards on store shelves.”Among those toys on the MASSPIRG black list for 2008 are Silly Fish Squirters made by Toysmith; Pony Land Scented Toy Pet; Halloween Skull Earring by Fashion Earrings; and Littlest Pet Shop made by Hasbro.According to the most recent data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, toy-related injuries sent more than 80,000 children under the age of five to emergency rooms in 2007. Eighteen children died from toy-related injuries that year, McGivney said.Since the CPSIA was passed in August, MASSPIRG concentrated its research on new standards for toxic toy dangers enacted by the law, using laboratory tests to identify toys that contain lead and toxic phthalates. Among the findings of the 2008 Trouble In Toyland: Lead paint in children’s jewelry and toys continues to expose the young to dangers than can lead to lowered IQ, delayed mental and physical development and even death.In 2006, a 4-year-old died of lead poisoning after he swallowed a bracelet charm that contained 99 percent lead, according to the report.McGivney said MASSPIRG researchers went to just a few stores and easily found three children’s toys or jewelry containing high levels of lead or lead paint. One piece of jewelry we found was 45 percent lead by weight, or more than 750 times current CPSC action levels, she said, adding, “Congress took important steps to address the serious health risks that lead poses to children, yet consumers can still find lead-laden children’s jewelry and lead painted toys on store shelves until the protections take effect next year.”High on the list of dangers were toxic phthalates, documented by numerous scientists as having the potential to expose children to health risks in the womb or at crucial stages of development. “Toys containing phthalates won’t be banned hazardous substances under the new law until February, but they are already hazardous to our children’s health,” said McGivney. “Consumers should watch out for these toxic toys.”Choking hazards were also mentioned prominently in the report. In 1979, the CPSC banned the sale of toys for children younger than three if they contain small parts. The 1994 Child Safety Protection Act required an explicit prominent choke hazard warning on toys with small parts for children aged between three and six. Despite these requirements MASSPIRG found toys with small parts for children under six without the required explicit choke hazard warning.”The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act gave the CPSC the tools it needs to do a better job for America’s littlest consumers,” said McGivney. “Now it’s up to Congress to fully fund them and for the Consumer Product Safety Commission to vigorously carry out its new responsibilities.”The list of dangerous toys contains many other toys made by unknown manufacturers that could potentially harm children through lead exposure or small parts that cause chokin