U.S.

Danger In The Toy Box

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

December 12, 2000 / 4:19 PM EST / CBS

Most parents try to keep up with the warnings on toys and other items that can be dangerous to their children.

But it's not always easy to keep track of everything.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission, which does try to keep track of everything, knows that only too well and has launched a new campaign to get the word out.

The Internet is a major weapon in the new battle for toy safety. The CPSC has posted a list of all the toys it has recalled in the past few years, along with pictures - just in case you don't know what that gizmo is called - and phone numbers if the manufacturer or distributor is offering a rebate or redesigned toy.

Good Toys, Bad Toys

Are the toys in your child's playroom and schoolroom safe?

Click here to check out the Consumer Product Safety Commission's list of toys recalled because of safety hazards.

The list includes photos, phone numbers to call, and descriptions of the kinds of injuries that can occur.

"The fundamental hazards are the same: choking, suffocation, and strangulation," says CPSC spokesman Ken Giles, pointing out that children under the age of 3 are most vulnerable to the dangers of the toys on the agency's "Dangerous Dozen" list.

Quite a few of the toys on the list sport famous brand names or were giveaways at well-known fast food restaurants.

Giles says that doesn't mean that those particular brands or companies are untrustworthy.

"I wouldn't say that (their presence on the list) means that the company isn't concerned about safety," says Giles. "It might be simply exposure that leads to them showing up on the list - in the sense that they have hundreds of thousands of products."

"Three of the giveaway toys were at fast food restaurants, and they essentially had the same hazard: suffocation," explains Giles, who says each toy had the potential to cover the child's mouth or nose.

"We had two deaths with the Pokemon balls," says Giles, who says there were no fatalities, but several incidents, involving the KFC-distributed Tangled Treeples toy and the Fazoli Restaurant-distributed Pasta Pals toy.

Scooters have also been a rising concern, according to Giles, who says two models were recalled because of handlebars that either come off or break off. That can causthe rider to lose control; one girl broke both of her arms.

CPSC
The Sky Dancer Flying
Doll was recalled and
made the danger list
because it can fly in an
unpredictable direction
and hit and injure both
children and adults.

Even if the scooter in your kid's garage isn't on the list, caution is still in order. "It's so important for kids to wear safety gear," says Giles. "If you're giving scooters as a gift, you should give the safety gear, too: that's a helmet, elbow pads and knee pads."

He adds that helmets cut in half the number of head injuries and greatly reduce the severity of head injuries when they do occur.
Small parts are often the culprits for injuries from toys.

But toys aren't the only places they are found.

Tiny, decorative and easily removable items on children's clothing can also pose choking, suffocation or strangulation hazards - to the child wearing the item or a sibling too young to understand the danger.

Bottom line, says Giles, "parents have to do their part…in making thoughtful judgements based on labeling to get the right toy for the right age child."

When the label says the toy's not for kids under age 3, it's not, no matter how smart your child may be, says Giles.

Last year, there were 16 deaths in the U.S. associated with toys and 140,000 injuries serious enough to require hospital treatment, according to Giles.