Trouble In Toyland

Speaking of the holidays, the U.S. PIRG (the federation of Public Interest Research Groups) has released it's 23rd annual toy safety report: Trouble In Toyland. Unsurprisingly it shows that the high number of recalls of unsafe toys throughout 2007 has continued into 2008:

’ÄúWhile the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act is a major step forward, many of its protections don’Äôt take effect until 2009, so it’Äôs still ’Äòbuyer beware’Äô for this shopping season,’Äù said U.S. PIRG Public Health Advocate Liz Hitchcock. ’ÄúWorse, last week the CPSC told companies that they could keep selling toys with toxic phthalate chemicals until they ran out of them, despite the law’Äôs clear prohibition against selling them after Feb. 10.’Äù

According to the most recent data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), toy-related injuries sent more than 80,000 children under the age of five to emergency rooms in 2007. Eighteen children died from toy-related injuries that year.

Read the entire report as a downloadable PDF HERE.