Be on the lookout for dangerous children's toys this Christmas
Posted on Dec 16, 2014 12:00am PST
The holiday season is a major money-maker for stores and product manufacturers,
but it can also be a dangerous time for consumers.
Dangerous and defective products can make it onto store shelves at any time of year, but the holidays are
particularly hazardous because of the high volume of merchandise being
purchased.
With Christmas coming up next week, many parents are rushing to find those
perfect last-minute gifts for their kids. If you are in this situation,
you may want to take a few minutes to do some internet research. Every
year, consumer advocacy groups issue reports on dangerous children’s
toys to avoid.
Perhaps the most well-known report is the annual “Trouble in Toyland”
investigation, published by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. Now
in its 29th year of publication, the current Trouble in Toyland report
identifies about two dozen toys that may be hazardous to children.
The most common types of dangers identified are:
- Toys that contain unsafe levels of toxic or otherwise harmful chemicals,
including lead (5 products on this year’s list)
- Toys that can cause serious injury if ingested (3 products on this year’s list)
- Toys with small parts that pose a choking hazard (16 products on this year’s list)
You can read the full
Trouble in Toyland report if you want more detailed information. But you can also see a summary
of the toys identified as dangerous on the
U.S. PIRG website.
Hopefully, most parents will be able to learn enough ahead of time to avoid
buying their children dangerous toys. Unfortunately, this doesn’t
always happen and a significant number of kids are injured annually by
these hazardous products. If your child is injured or sickened by a dangerous
toy or other hazardous product, you may be able to hold the manufacturer
liable. Please share your concerns with an experienced personal injury attorney.