Hazardous Toys to Avoid
December 6, 2006 by Karen Weideman
Filed under baby products, health, odds and ends, toys
A few weeks ago I posted about the Top 10 Worst Toys. A toy safety report released by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group reports that there are more toys that you should avoid.
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, almost 73,000 children under the age of 5 were treated in emergency rooms for toy-related injuries in 2005. Out of those, 20 children died!!!! That’s 20 deaths that could have been prevented.
The “Trouble in Toyland” report warns parents of toys with choking hazards, powerful magnetic parts, lead, and strangulation hazards. Prior to this list I did not realize that magnetic toys could cause such problems. Apparently, the magnets can stick together inside a child’s body and obstruct the bowels or cause a life-threatening tear in the intestines.
My children have some of the books pictured here. I had to take them away because they were tearing the foam off the front cover, which was definitely a choking hazard.
Please click here for a list of the hazardous toys.
