Population declines on the Island of Misfit Toys

We won’t soon forget the millions upon millions of defective toys recalled in 2008 and 2007 due to lead hazards that can cause developmental problems, small magnets that can block or perforate intestines, and toxic chemicals that can put kids in comas. Consumers, as well as Consumers Union, lost confidence in the safety of toys in the marketplace. But a few items in the news recently gives us hope that things are turning around in Toyland.

At a town-hall style meeting in New York City's Times Square,  Inez Tenenbaum, Chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, hailed the significant reduction in toy recalls this year. So far there have been 38 toy recalls, down from 162 in 2008 and 148 in 2007. Tenenbaum attributed the decline to increased enforcement at the ports, cooperation with other countries, consumer awareness and education, and compliance by the toy industry with new federal safety rules.

The new rules have tightened restrictions on lead, made formerly voluntary toy-safety standards mandatory, and required that toys for children under 12 be tested and certified before they're sold. “CPSC has worked hard this year to give parents and grandparents greater confidence that the toys they seek to purchase have enhanced safety protections for children,” said Tenenbaum. We agree.

Another factor that could boost consumer confidence is the Toy Industry Association’s Toy Safety Certification Program. Launched last month, the program adds an extra level of scrutiny to make sure toys are manufactured to comply with safety standards. Qualifying toys will eventually bear a safety certification mark. Although we don’t think the program requires enough randomized sampling of the final product, it’s a start. This week the association announced the first products that have been certified under the program including a Radio Flyer push toy.    
 
The third piece of toy news this week wasn't so cheery. The CPSC's annual report on toy-related deaths and injuries showed that toy-associated injuries are on the rise while fatalities have dropped over the past few years. There were 172,700 toy-related injuries that sent children under 15 to the nation's emergency rooms in 2008. That’s the highest injury level since 2001. But the number of fatalities for children under 15 has declined to 19 from 28 in 2006 and 22 in 2007, according to information the CPSC has collected so far.

With the busiest toy-buying season upon us, it's good to know that care is being taken to ensure that what's on the shelves is safe.—Don Mays

CR and partners launch school safety alert program

This week, Consumer Reports is launching a major new initiative to deliver critical, time-sensitive information on recalled and unsafe products to the homes of millions of school-aged children.  We’ve teamed up with the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and the National School Boards Association (NSBA) to distribute Web-based safety alerts and recall notices on children’s products including toys, food, furniture and clothing.

We’ve created a Web site that features news and videos of the latest children’s product recalls from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Food & Drug Administration, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  The National PTA is distributing the link to the site through e-mail newsletters sent to its members at least every two weeks.  Additionally, the NSBA has agreed to distribute and help promote the online resource to millions of its members.
 
Tens of millions of children are needlessly exposed to unsafe products and foods. Each year, approximately 50 children are killed, hundreds are sickened, and thousands are injured by these products.  In 2008, the CPSC recorded 563 recalls for 43 million unsafe products. Two-thirds, or 29 million units, were toys, nursery products, clothing, and other children’s products that posed risks of strangulation, poisoning or choking.

Unfortunately, many recall notices never make it to the home of affected consumers. Toy giant Mattel once acknowledged to Congress that it typically sees less than a 10 percent consumer response rate to its recalls.  If that is indeed typical, then too many children are left in harm's way. 
 
The mission of our safety initiative is to reduce the number of unsafe products in the marketplace and in the homes of consumers. This program will go a long way to warn families about unsafe products and foods that may be lurking in their homes or the homes of friends, relatives and caretakers.—Don Mays 

Watch these safety videos

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Little Tikes makes big recall of toys that pose choking hazard

After a plastic toy nail became lodged in the throat of an 11-month-old, Little Tikes has recalled 1.6 million toy workshops and trucks that have been on the market for 15 years. The injured South Carolina boy recovered after being hospitalized.

The offending nails are 3 1/4 inch long by 1 1/4 inch in diameter and come in both red and blue. The nails were part of four toy workshop sets and one truck with a tool set in the bed, including:

• Electronic Project Workshop (Sold March 1994 to Dec. 2003)
• Little HandiWorker Workhorse (Sold March 1999 to June 2009)
• Home Improvements 2-Sided Workshop (Sold Feb. 2001 to Jan. 2009)
• Swirlin' Sawdust Workshop (Sold April 2004 to Nov. 2008)
• Black Pickup Truck with Tools (Sold March 2000 to April 2009)

The toys were sold on various web sites such as www.littletikes.com and mass merchandise retailers nationwide, including Toys “R” Us, for between $25 and $100.

A similar recall of 255,000 workbenches was made by Playskool three years ago after two children choked to death when toy nails became lodged in their throats. In that case, the company offered consumers an incentive of a $50 gift certificate to return the nails to Playskool.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is advising parents of the Little Tikes toy sets to remove the toy nails. The company is offering "free replacement toy nails" but cautious parents may want to forgo that offer.

For more information, contact Little Tikes at (800) 791-2737 between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. ET Saturday, or visit the firm’s Web site at www.littletikes.com.

Our take: This is a good time to remind parents to use a common cardboard tube from a roll of toilet paper to screen out choking hazards. If the toy passes through, it's too small for baby to play with. Also, parents of children of mixed ages should take care to keep the toys of older children away from the younger ones.

Secondhand woes: 10 recalls that put children at risk

At the height of garage sale season, the Consumer Product Safety Commission is promoting its "Resale Round-up" campaign to get recalled products out of resale stores, off the Internet and removed from the secondhand market. Reselling recalled products is a violation of federal law. In addition, the agency is highlighting 10 recalled children's products that have been the cause of injuries or deaths. Items on the list date back to 1993.

"Those who resell recalled children's products are not only breaking the law, they are putting children's lives at risk," said CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum. "Resale stores should make safety their business and check for recalled products and hazards to children."

And as we wrote earlier, the same law—the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act—that bars manufacturers from peddling a million lead-tainted toys applies to the tag-sale host selling just one. So it's a good practice to check www.recalls.gov before buying or selling something secondhand.

The CPSC has put together a booklet for resellers that is handy for anyone selling used items. In addition, here is the agency's top 10 list of dangerous recalled children's products. At least 25 deaths have been associated with these items.

Evenflo Envision high chairs
Recalled: April 2, 2009
How many: 643,000
Hazard: Recline fasteners and metal screws on both sides of the high chair can loosen and fall out, allowing the seat back to detach or recline unexpectedly. Children can fall backwards or fall out of the high chair. Detached hardware also poses a choking hazard to children.
Incidents/Injuries: Evenflo has received 320 reports of seat backs detaching or reclining unexpectedly, resulting in 19 head injuries and 35 other injuries including abrasions, pinches and bruises.

Hill Sportswear hooded drawstring sweatshirts
Recalled: February 12, 2009
How many: 300,000
Hazard: The sweatshirts have drawstrings through the hood. The drawstrings can become caught on objects and strangle a child.
Incidents/Injuries: One report of a death involving a 3-year-old boy in Fresno, Calif. who was strangled when the drawstring on his hooded sweatshirt became stuck on a play ground set.

Simplicity bassinets (also includes bassinets with Graco or Winnie the Pooh motif)
Recalled: April 7, 2009; August 27, 2008; September 25, 2008;
How many: 900,000
Hazard: The Simplicity 3-in-1 and 4-in-1 convertible bassinets contain metal bars that are covered by an adjustable fabric flap attached by velcro. The fabric is folded down when the bassinet is converted into a bed-side co-sleeping position. If the velcro is not properly re-secured when the flap is adjusted, an infant can slip through the opening and become entrapped between the metal bars and suffocate.
Incidents/Injuries: The CPSC is aware of at least three deaths involving Simplicity bassinets.

Simplicity drop-side cribs
Recalled: September 17, 2008; July 2, 2009
How many: 1 million
Hazard: The drop side can detach. When the drop side detaches, it creates space between the drop side and the crib mattress. Infants and toddlers can roll into this space and become entrapped and suffocate.
Incidents/Injuries: The CPSC is aware of 10 deaths associated with Simplicity drop-side cribs.

Polly Pocket dolls with magnets
Recalled: November 21, 2006; August 14, 2007
How many: 9.7 million play sets
Hazard: Small magnets inside the dolls and accessories can come loose. The magnets can be swallowed or aspirated. If more than one magnet is swallowed, the magnets can attract to each other and cause intestinal perforation or blockage, which can be fatal.
Incidents/Injuries: The CPSC is aware of 3 serious injuries.

Easy Bake Ovens
Recalled: July 19, 2007
How many: 1 million
Hazard: Young children can insert their hands into the oven's front opening, and get their hands or fingers caught, posing entrapment and burn hazards.
Incidents/Injuries: Easy-Bake has received 249 reports of children getting their hands or fingers caught in the oven's opening, including 77 reports of burns, 16 of which were reported as second and third-degree burns. Easy-Bake also received one report of a serious burn that required a partial finger amputation to a 5-year-old girl.

Magnetix Magnetic building sets
Recalled: March 31, 2006; April 19, 2007
How many: 4 million sets
Hazard: Tiny magnets inside the plastic building pieces and rods can fall out. Magnets found by young children can be swallowed or aspirated. If more than one magnet is swallowed, the magnets can attract to each other and cause intestinal perforation or blockage, which can be fatal.
Incidents/Injuries: CPSC is aware of one death and at least 27 serious injuries.

Baby Trend Home and Roam and Baby Express portable cribs and play yards
Recalled: February 17 1993; January 17, 2003
How many: 1.5 million
Hazard: These cribs/play yards can collapse and entrap an infant.
Incidents/Injuries: In January 2001, a 9-month-old baby in Longview, Wash., died of asphyxiation when her neck was caught in the V-shape created by the collapsed sides of her crib/play yard. There have been three other deaths and three reports of babies found not breathing (who were revived) associated with these products.

Evenflo Happy Camper play yards
Recalled: June 25, 1997; March 8, 2006
How many: 1.2 million
Hazard: The product can collapse, trapping the child in the "V" formed by the folded top rails. The rotating plastic hinges can crack or break, presenting a sharp edge or possibly allowing the child to escape.
Incidents/Injuries: Evenflo and the CPSC are aware of three deaths involving the play yards.

Playskool Travel-Lite play yards
Recalled: March 10, 1993
How many: 12,000
Hazard: If the side rails of the portable crib fold during use, an infant can become entrapped and suffocate.
Incidents/Injuries: Three deaths have been reported. In each case the infant was found entrapped in a folded crib.

CPSC allows Mattel to oversee its own toy inspections

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has agreed to let toy giant Mattel oversee some of its own product-testing rather than depending on independent labs to screen the company's products for lead paint and dangerous small parts.

Mattel is the first company to take advantage of the CPSC's authority to accredit so-called "firewalled laboratories" under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, according to agency spokesman Scott Wolfson. And we hope "take advantage of" is not the operative phrase here.

Mattel doesn't exactly have a clean track record when it comes to recalls. Since 2007, the toymaker has recalled 12.7 million toys with dangerous small parts (mostly magnets) or tainted with lead. And in June the company agreed to pay a $2.3 million civil penalty for the importation of millions of lead-laden toys from China, the third largest fine ever imposed by the CPSC.

Still, the safety agency has agreed to accept results from seven of the company's testing labs including overseas facilities in Mexico, Malaysia, Indonesia, and China, where most of the recalled products were made. Under the agreement, Mattel must demonstrate that test results from its labs are protected from undue influence by the manufacturer, labeler, or other interested party. It must also allow on-site inspections by the CPSC.

Our take: We find this all a bit ironic. The CPSIA was signed into law a year ago in response to a wave of toy recalls—Mattel's included—due to high levels of lead and other hazards. Mattel pushed hard for the firewalled lab provision in the CPSIA.  But we are concerned that this is just another example of the fox guarding the hen house. 

 

Inflatable accidents are up, up and away

If it hadn't been real, the sight of an 11-year-old boy flying  40 feet into the air clinging to an inflatable slide might have seemed like a whimsical scene from the movie "Up." And after a few terrifying moments, it did  have a happy ending; the Ohio boy landed safely thanks to some quick-thinking bystanders.

The unintended balloon flight highlights the dangers of inflatable amusements, which are subject to relatively few safety rules and regulations. Popular at kids' backyard birthday parties, local carnivals and other attractions, the inflatables come in all shapes and sizes with names like moonwalker and bounce house. They're big and bouncy and irresistible to kids.

Unfortunately, the fun can end quickly. Kids pile on top of other kids, breaking bones, chipping teeth or worse, or when the structures deflate unexpectedly, trapping children inside. In the case of the Ohio boy in June, a gust of wind caught the poorly anchored slide and lifted it into air with the child still aboard. As photos from the Middletown Journal show, he was brought to safety when some adults punctured the inflatable and it returned to earth. Other children suffered bumps and scrapes when the ride flipped several times.

In 2007, a 3-year-old died when he was crushed by two adults. Last fall, a young girl died after she broke her neck doing somersaults down an inflatable ride in Festus, MO, according to the Witchita Eagle. And last month, a 17-year-old Texas boy attempted a back flip on an inflatable ride, fell on his neck, and is now partially paralyzed.

Such accidents are on the rise as the popularity of inflatables grows, according to the Web site, Ride Accidents.com, which tracks incidents. The newest numbers from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which were last updated in 2005, are sobering. The CPSC reported four fatalities in inflatable-related accidents from 2002 to 2005. In 2004, the most recent year for which we found complete data, inflatable rides, such as inflatable slides and bouncers, accounted for an estimated 4,900 injuries treated in hospital emergency rooms, according to the agency. That was up sharply from 1997, when the CPSC estimated only 1,300 such injuries -- a whopping 277 percent increase in just eight years (a time in which inflatables grew in popularity).

In 2007, the CPSC issued one of its first recalls of inflatable amusement ride devices in several years: Some 2,600 bounce houses made by Sportcraft (see image above) were recalled after the company received a handful of reports of fans and the surrounding plastic breaking apart during use, causing the inflatables to lose air.

It's up to the states or local municipalities to regulate inflatables. Few have. One of the first states to get tough on inflatables was New Jersey, which requires inspections and mandates that inflatables meet wind-anchorage and combustibility requirements. ASTM International, a voluntary-standards development organization, has developed a standard for inflatables. While ASTM standards don't carry the weight of law, they may be referenced in laws or contracts.

Before letting your child use an inflatable at a carnival or festival, check with the operator to see if it is properly anchored and that users are supervised. If you are renting one for a backyard event, the state of Washington offers these safety tips:

• Limit the number of users on the device;
• Make sure the inflatable isn't overloaded or unstable;
• Securely anchor the inflatable to the ground with pegs;
• Place the blower so it can't accidentally be unplugged, causing the inflatable to collapse.

Mattel and Fisher-Price to pay $2.3 million penalty for violating lead paint ban

Mattel and its subsidiary, Fisher-Price, have agreed to pay a $2.3 million civil penalty—the largest of its kind—for violating the federal lead paint ban. The Consumer Product Safety Commission said the penalty "resolves CPSC staff allegations that Mattel and Fisher-Price knowingly (as defined in the Consumer Product Safety Act) imported and sold children’s toys with paints or other surface coatings that contained lead levels that violated a 30-year-old federal law."

The civil penalty, which is the highest for violations involving importation or distribution of a product regulated by the CPSC and is the third highest of any kind in CPSC history, settles the following allegations:

• Mattel imported up to 900,000 non-compliant toys between September 2006 and August 2007, including the “Sarge” toy car and numerous Barbie accessory toys, and distributed most of them to its retail customers for sale to U.S. consumers. The “Sarge” car was recalled in August 2007 and the Barbie toys were recalled in September 2007.  
• Fisher-Price imported up to 1.1 million non-compliant toys between July 2006 and August 2007, including certain licensed character toys and the Bongo Band, GEO TRAX locomotive, and Go Diego Go Rescue Boat toys. Most of these toys were distributed to retail stores for sale to consumers. The licensed character toys, including Sesame Street favorites and Dora the Explorer, were recalled in August 2007, the Bongo Band and GEO TRAX toys were recalled in September 2007, and the Go Diego Go Boat toys were recalled in October 2007.

The year 2007 became known as the "Year of the Recall" because of the multiple toy recalls. Of the 138 toys recalled that year, 97 were for lead paint violations. In a press conference announcing the penalty, CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson said that the agency has more active cases involving lead paint violations but that it had no further cases pending against Mattel or Fisher-Price. "This is a settled case," he said.

We are pleased that the CPSC is exercising its authority to find companies that flout their laws. This should put other companies on notice that they need to ensure they are not bringing non-compliant and unsafe toys onto the market.

Build-a-Bear recalls 269,700 toy beach chairs

This time it wasn't Goldilocks who broke the bear's chair. Build-a-Bear has recalled 269,700 folding toy beach chairs after several children had their fingers pinched, bruised or cut in the folding mechanism.

The chairs involved in the recall have a wood frame and canvas seat and some come with an attached pillow. They were sold in blue, red, fuchsia, fuchsia/white stripe and orange/white stripe at Build-A-Bear workshops nationwide and online at www.buildabear.com from March 2001 through October 2008 for about $8 in the U.S. and from March 2003 through October 2008 for about $10 in Canada. 

Consumers should return the chair to any Build-A-Bear workshop for an $8 (U.S.) or $10 (Canada) store coupon. If it is not possible to return the chair to a store, contact the company for alternate instructions on receiving a refund.

For more information, call the Build-A-Bear workshop at (866) 236-5683 Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. CT, Saturday 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. CT, or visit the company’s Web site at www.buildabear.com.

Safety on display at Toy Fair 2009

In addition to the action heroes and a Barbie about to turn 50, the economy was on display at the 2009 Toy Fair this week in New York. Not only are vendors showcasing lower-priced toys but one tongue-in-cheek offering is a Bernie "Made Off With My Money" Madoff doll that comes equipped with a golden hammer.

Our interest in toys isn't about the price points or Ponzi scheme revenge but, of course, safety. In an interview televised during the event, Don Mays, our resident safety guru, spoke about toy safety issues. He also talked about the new toy safety requirements concerning lead and phthalates that took effect last week.

Safety was also on the minds of the editors of the New York Times who asked in an editorial, "Can the federal government assure consumers that the toys are safe?" Concluding that it could not do so under the current leadership of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the newspaper called on the new administration to "quickly replace the commission’s acting chairwoman, Nancy Nord ... [President Obama] should then choose the kind of enlightened leadership that every parent and toy lover needs and that will give consumer safety the priority it deserves."

Standards group updates toy safety requirements

Today ASTM-International published a major update of its toy safety standard ASTM F-963. The improved standard addresses hazards associated with small magnets that can cause serious internal injuries if multiples are ingested; toy noise that can cause hearing loss; yo-yo balls that can cause strangulation; and impaction hazards that can cause choking. As active members on the ASTM’s subcommittee on toy safety, we pushed for many of the improvements in this new safety standard.

Until now, compliance with the ASTM toy safety standard was voluntary. That changed last week—under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act any toy brought to market after February 10  must meet the requirements of the former standards. In six months,  the new version of the standards will likewise become mandatory.

We think this marks a milestone in toy safety. Provided there is universal compliance by manufacturers, parents can have renewed confidence in the safety of the toys they buy for their children in the future.