Zhu Zhu Hamsters May Pose Health Risk

(CBS)  Updated at 8:05 p.m. Eastern time

A consumer group in California says one of the hottest-selling toys this holiday season may not be safe for youngsters, reports CBS Station KPIX correspondent Kiet Do.

When it debuted, the Zhu Zhu pet hamster was one of the top 15 hottest toys of the holiday season.

But the consumer watchdog group Good Guide, based in the Bay Area, says that if you have one, keep the receipt.

In rating the product goodguide.com says it found a chemical called antimony, which is a metal with potential health hazards.

"If ingested in high enough levels [it] can lead to cancer, reproductive health, and other human health hazards," said Dara O'Rourke, an associate professor of environmental science at U.C.-Berkeley, and co-founder of goodguide.com.

On Saturday evening, the manufacturer of Zhu Zhu Pets, Cepia LLC, released a statement to CBS News responding to the Good Guide warning. In the statement, the company says that its hamster toys, named Mr. Squiggles, are "absolutely safe and has passed the most rigorous testing in the toy industry for consumer health and safety."

"We are disputing the findings of Good Guide, and we are 100 percent confident that Mr. Squiggles, and all other Zhu Zhu toys, are safe and compliant with all U.S. and European standards for consumer health and safety in toys," Cepia CEO Russ Hornsby said in the statement.

Good Guide partners with other companies to rate the social, environmental, and health impacts of hundreds of products, which includes testing toys like the Zhu Zhu pet for, among other things, toxic chemicals.

Good Guide says the Zhu Zhu stood out because of high levels of antimony.

The federal limit is 60 parts per million. But the Zhu Zhu had 93 parts per million in the fur, and 103 in the nose.

"If these toys aren't even meeting the legal standards in the U.S. then I would say that it isn't worth the risk for me to bring it into my household," said O'Rourke.

Good Guide says the danger is when kids touch the toy, and then touch their mouth, or put the toy directly in their mouth.

"We're not recommending that you throw them away," O'Rourke said. "But if you're concerned about it then we recommend that you call the company or potentially return the product if you feel it's not safe enough for your kids.

The toy is made in China, but the company, Cepia llc, is headquartered in St. Louis.

KPIX tried to contact the company, but so far, our phone calls and e-mails have not been returned.

At the Toys R Us in San Mateo, parents say the risk isn't worth it: "That would certainly change my decision for getting it," said Diana Cordio of San Mateo, when told of Good Guide's findings.

Parent Patrick McKinney said, "As much as they may want it, I gotta side on the side of safety and they're gonna have to pass on it."


For more info:
GoodGuide.com Product Ratings on Zhu Zhu Pets

[mozarkmom]

Does this mean that the Zhu Zhu's do not contain these chemicals afterall?

[D Benson Isaac]

Zhu Zhu's are safe! Consumer group backtracks on charges against Zhu Zhu's.

GoodGuide is a young company looking for fame. They have retracted their claim that Zhu Zhu's are tainted and have admitted their testing was not on the level of government guidelines. Click here to read full report retracting charges of Zhu Zhu unsafety. See link for full story:

http://features.csmonitor.com/economyrebuild/2009/12/07/zhu-zhu-pets-unsafe-hardly-says-manufacturer-as-consumer-group-backtracks/

The last paragraph says it all!

[mozarkmom]

Our kids are being used as guinea pigs by having them play with toy hamsters!

[sincity_q]

It's a good thing that generations of Americans grew up with toy guns, rode bicycles without helmets and did their playing outdoors. Today, it's just too dangerous with pet toy hamsters, video games... and big brother.

[noloyalisti]

People who are trying to protect the public are obviously extremist communists. Just let the big corporations continue to run the media, the military and the government. They care about us and know best what is good for us.

Tobacco is good for you because you breathe more deeply and get more oxygen. Assault weapons are good for hunting squirrels. Chemicals are good because they promote health. War is good because it increases corporate profits.

[momincharge]

It seems that some of you are missing the problem here. It is not that China is winning a war, or that the Chinese people are awful. What information do we have about the Zhu Zhu pets that has come from a reliable source? Who do we believe? And, do we take the risk without the information from the reliable source? Yes, we have lots of problems with some of the items coming out of China. But, did these particular toys go through testing before being sold in the USA? And who was supposed to approve the sale? These are the people we need to be questioning. As parents, standing together is stronger that arguing amongst ourselves about things other than the Zhu Zhu pets! So, does anyone know who these people are that we need to question?

[momincharge]

It seems that some of you are missing the problem here. It is not that China is winning a war, or that the Chinese people are awful. What information do we have about the Zhu Zhu pets that has come from a reliable source? Who do we believe? And, do we take the risk without the information from the reliable source? Yes, we have lots of problems with some of the items coming out of China. But, did these particular toys go through testing before being sold in the USA? And who was supposed to approve the sale? These are the people we need to be questioning. As parents, standing together is stronger that arguing amongst ourselves about things other than the Zhu Zhu pets! So, does anyone know who these people are that we need to question?

[debinok1]

It would be very interesting to find out who alerted Good Guides to the issue with these toys. This is exactly what can be expected when a new company comes on the scene with a new innovative idea, if it cannot be bought out by a bigger name, it will be squashed. This is the same reason we have not had any major advances in other areas. The United States patent office is full of products that were innovative and would have helped our society, once a major corporation gets wind of them, patents get denied, people die, ideas are bought and never reach the public. In China, a washing machine/dryer(one machine does both) takes up less space than a toilet, uses less water than one also, uses a fraction of the electricity and at a fraction of the cost spent on a standard set here, but every attempt to produce them here is destroyed. Someone is losing money over these little toys and wants them off the market, plain and simple. I hear people asking all the time,
what happened to the spirit of invention in this country?" Corporate America happened.

[John_MA]

How is the antimony contained in the mouse? Is it sprinkled on? I doubt it. Antimony is in almost every integrated circuit. It is in almost every electronic componenet in your home. But the antimnoy is not going to jump out of the integrated circuit and poison you. I trust that if you published a more thorough analysis it would be seen that the antimony is not accessible.

[redrose124]

I think a little more information is needed before anyone can judge the situation.

I would like to see a cite to the federal authority that limits the amount of this chemical in toys. From what I've been reading it seems that it might just be a voluntary toy industry standard.

I would like to know to what extent the chemical can actually come off of the toy and how much, and whether that results in "high levels". The machine the group used just tested the amount on surface levels, but there is no information here as to whether that chemical actually comes off the toy or not and if so, how much.

I would also like to know how the amount in the organization claims to be in this toy compares with the amount of chemical in other things such as the couches in our homes and other products (and other stuffed animals for that matter).

Also, at least from the ATSDR website, there appear not to have been a lot of human studies with this chemical - but it is apparently everywhere. I'd like some clear information on what we know about this chemical's effects and the corresponding exposure levels (compared to what exposure level we can expect with this toy).

I am also interested in information about this group that did the testing. I have never heard of them before and it looks like they may have been in existence only a few years.

Finally, I would like to see someone in the news media find another party to test some Zhu Zhu pets and see what they come up with.

Thank you.