Thanksgiving\nis the kick off of the holiday shopping season. \nIt\u2019s a time when many adults look for gifts for children. And while the holidays are a time for fun and\ngiving, it is important that it gift givers keep safety in mind when shopping\nfor kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A\nrecent survey of toys found that some posed health and safety threats to\nchildren. Among the toys surveyed were\nexamples of choking and excessive noise hazards and toys with potentially\nhazardous concentrations of toxins. The\ncontinued presence of these hazards in toys highlights the need for constant\nvigilance on the part of government agencies and the public to ensure that\nchildren do not end up playing with unsafe toys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For more than 30 years, the\nUnited States Public Interest Research Group\u2019s (USPIRG) Trouble in Toyland<\/em> has called for stringent toy safety guidelines\nand has provided examples of toys currently on store shelves that pose\npotential safety hazards to young children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some important\nthings to keep in mind as you gift shop for children. Beware of small parts choking hazards, if you\nwant to test to see if a toy or a part of a toy is too small, see if it fits\ninside a toilet paper roll, if so, it\u2019s not appropriate for small\nchildren. Uninflated balloons should\nbe kept away from kids under eight and popped balloons should not be left\naround. If an action figure, toy gun or\nother toy produces loud sounds, it can hurt a child\u2019s hearing. Test the toy by holding it near your ear and if\nit\u2019s too loud for you, it\u2019s too loud for your child. You can remove the batteries, put tape over\nthe speaker, or decrease the volume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sculpture kits or puzzles may include powerful magnets that\ncan seriously injure children if ingested. Also, toys marketed to adults may be a hazard in the hands\nof children. For example, fidget spinners may not meet the same safety\nstandards as other toys because they are primarily designed with adults in\nmind, though they can still be marketed directly or indirectly to children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite\nrecent progress in making toys safer, the report highlighted the need for\ncontinued attention to shortcomings in existing standards and vigilance on the\npart of the shopping public. To keep\nchildren safe from potentially hazardous toys, there is still more to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For toys already owned:<\/p>\n\n\n\n While\nit\u2019s important for parents and other adults to shop smart, there are steps that\nNew York can take to protect children from dangerous products. One example is a bill that passed both houses\nof the Legislature and awaits action by the governor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The legislation is\ndesigned to promote the removal of the most dangerous toxic chemicals\u2014those\neither known or suspected of causing cancer, reproductive injuries or\ninterfering with children\u2019s development\u2014from everyday children\u2019s products and to\nsteer industry towards safe substitution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nbill passed at the end of April with overwhelming bipartisan support, but the\ngovernor has not yet acted on the bill. \nAdvocates hope that with the holiday season looming, the governor will\nfinally approve the legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Until\nthen adults should be on guard when it comes to purchasing toys. In order to view the full Trouble in Toyland\nreport go to www.nypirg.org. Parents can\nfind a list of unsafe toys, as well as tips for safe toy shopping this holiday\nseason, at toysafetytips.org. Have a\nhappy and safe holiday season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Thanksgiving is the kick off of the holiday shopping season. It\u2019s a time when many adults look for gifts for children. And while the holidays are a time for fun and giving, it is important that it gift givers keep safety in mind when shopping for kids. A recent survey of toys found that some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2333"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2334,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2333\/revisions\/2334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}