Executive Summary

Children are seriously injured and die each year in the United States from toy-related injuries. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is the federal agency responsible for toy safety. However, the CPSC lacks the resources to adequately monitor the thousands of new toy products introduced nationally each year. Sadly, many of the deaths and injuries that occur from dangerous toys could be prevented if toys were designed with greater attention to safety.

NYPIRG’s 1999 Toy Safety Report, Trouble in Toyland, includes the results of a statewide survey of New York stores to identify unsafe toys. Relying on toy safety regulations and recommendations, a team of field study participants surveyed stores and identified unsafe toys on the shelves of stores in New York. Some of the toys identified by surveyors were included on NYPIRG’s 1999 List of Potentially Dangerous Toys. This year’s list also includes a popular toy—Hasbro’s Pokemon Power Bouncer Ball - that resulted in the death of a 7 year-old boy in Yonkers, New York earlier this year.

In particular NYPIRG’s research and surveys focus on choking, the leading cause of toy-related deaths. The results of the survey and list of dangerous toys also include toys that pose other hazards such as strangulation and toxic substances. For the second year in a row, this report also includes the recently identified hazard of toys containing significant amounts of toxic chemicals. Specifically, many soft polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic toys contain chemicals called phthalates ‚ which are probable human carcinogens and known to cause chronic health effects including liver and kidney abnormalities.

F INDINGS

• Toy manufacturers attempt to circumvent the CPSC’s ban on small parts and small balls in toys intended for children under 3 through labels. Surveyors found many toys that had play value for children under 3 and contained pieces or balls that could pose choking hazards. Often, the toys included choke hazard labels.
• Toy manufacturers make toys that may pose choke hazards because they contain parts that are just slightly larger than the small parts ban test. Surveyors also identified toys that contained parts that could easily break off and fit in the small parts testing cylinder.
• Toy manufacturers and retailers fail to label unwrapped small toys or toys containing small parts within bins. They also fail to label bins that contain unlabeled unpackaged toys that pose choke hazards, as required by law.
• One of the most dangerous toys, balloons, continues to be manufactured and marketed in shapes and colors that are attractive to very young children.
• Important choke hazard warnings are sometimes hidden in the packaging of toys or are not in compliance with the warning required by the CSPA. Also, toy manufacturers are "over-labeling" toys by placing choke hazard warnings on toys that do not contain small parts. We are concerned that such vague and hidden labeling will water down the meaning of the labels and hence be less useful to parents.
• Independent tests have shown that many plastic toys, including common teething toys, contain as much as 40% by weight of toxic phthalates, which may leach into children's bodies. The chemicals are probable human carcinogens and have been shown to have some of the characteristics of "endocrine disrupters" ‚ chemicals that cause reproductive abnormalities.

RECOMMENDATIONS

TO TOY BUYERS AND PARENTS: Be vigilant this holiday season and remember: (1) The CPSC does not test all toys; (2) not all toys on the shelves meet CPSC regulations; and, (3) toys that meet all CPSC tests may still pose hazards, ranging from choking to toxic chemical exposure.

TO THE CPSC: (1) Reexamine the parameters by which toys are judged for age appropriateness, especially regarding preschool action figures. (2) At a minimum, ban toxic phthalates from toys intended for children ages 3 and under, as other jurisdictions have already done. Preferably, as PIRG and other groups requested in a petition last year, ban toxic phthalates from toys intended for children 5 and under.

TO TOY MAKERS: (1) Manufacturers should do more to comply with toy regulations. (2) Toy makers should add stickers to obsolete packages to comply with the CPSC’s regulations and improve warnings on new packages to meet the spirit, not merely the letter, of the law. (3) Eliminate toxic phthalates from toys intended for children under 5 years old, or at a bare minimum eliminate toxic phthalates from toys intended for children under 3 years old as some companies have already done. Clearly disclose the use of toxic phthalates and other chemicals in other toys appropriate for older children. (4) Reexamine the parameters with which toys are judged for age appropriateness, especially regarding preschool action figures.

TO TOY STORES: (1) Clearly label bins as well as the toys within bins containing small parts. (2) Carefully consider the height of bins containing toys with small parts. Make sure that they are high enough so that children under 3 can not reach them. (3) Make sure all balloons are packaged with a CSPC warning requirement. Never place loose balloons in bins.