Parenting in the Time of Recalls
It’s been an anxious summer for a lot of parents. A series of recalls mostly centering on China made toys coated with excessive levels of lead have led to anxious moments for many parents. Toys from the popular Thomas and Friends series were included, besides metal toy cars, RC2 Corp’s “Knights of the Sword” toys, and puppet theater units from Guidecraft Inc. Jewelry and Mexican tamarind fruit candy have also been the subject of some high profile recalls. Just last week Simplicity and Greco announced it was pulling more than a million cribs off the market after reports that their faulty design was causing suffocation deaths.
With recalls coming faster than one can keep track of them, it can be difficult to keep up with what’s considered safe and what’s not. The best place to check if your children’s toys fall in a recalled list is to check out the Consumer Product Safety Commission website at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prerel.html
Mattel was one toy giant that was particularly affected by a series of recalls which saw millions of Polly Pocket Play Sets pulled off store shelves after reports that they had removable parts that could be ingested by children. To find out if your child’s toys are in the Mattel list visit them at http://www.mattel.com/safety/us/
With all the hype about Chinese made lead coated toys, we might be in danger of losing focus on the things that are responsible for more injuries and deaths of children every year than the recalled products these past few months. The non profit research group Kids in Danger has been tracking injuries and deaths caused by recalled toys since 2001. It’s verdict? The No.1 injury causing toy in the last six years was Leap Frog playgrounds which has been re instated in toy stores after a recall in 2006. Trampolines are also a frequent source of accidents and injuries and incidents of children choking on small toys, marbles and balls are too many to ignore. The bottom line is this – by all means, adhere to the recalled product list, but also keep an eye out for the less publicized but equally dangerous toys in your home.
Filed under: Games and Toys
