When shopping for toys this holiday season, you may well find the normal buzzwords of “hot” and “must have” replaced by “lead,” “recalled,” and “date rape.” Yes, 2007 is definitely the year of headaches for Santa.
The lead recalls on products manufactured in China have exploded, seriously impacting sales for the holidays. A Harris Interactive Poll reports that 33 percent of Americans say they will be buying fewer toys this holiday season due to recent safety recalls and 45 percent indicate they will avoid buying toys manufactured in China. “This negative attitude extends to all products manufactured in China, with nearly half (46 percent) of all Americans saying they will avoid buying Chinese manufactured products this holiday season,” Harris Interactive reported.
However, not all of these recalled products come from China. Other regions known for their less expensive manufacturing, such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Vietnam, have products involved in the massive lead recall.
The latest type of child gift item being affected by the lead recall is jewelry. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) says that many of the jewelry pieces being recalled contain high levels of lead, which is toxic if ingested and can cause a variety of very serious health problems (for more on this read my previous article on lead). Many of the items may have been decorated using a lead-based paint, and reviewing the offending pieces on the CPSC Web site shows that the vast majority of the items were sold at “dollar stores” and similar low-cost retailers.
Some of the items being recalled include: Sparkle City Charm Bracelets and Tack Pin Sets (Buy-Rite Designs Inc.); Decorative Stretchable Aqua Bracelets (Cherrydale Fundraising); Children’s Metal Necklaces and Bracelets (Colossal Jewelry & Accessories Inc.); La Femme NY Children’s Necklace and Earring Sets (La Femme NY 2 Inc.); Crystal Innovations jewelry (Pure Allure); Rachel Rose and Distinctly Basics Assorted Metal Jewelry (Family Dollar Inc.); Beary Cute, Expressions, and Sassy & Chic Children’s Metal Jewelry (Greenbrier International, Inc.); and WeGlow Children’s Metal Jewelry (WeGlow International).
Many other products are being swept up in the lead recall. Some of the most popular include: Curious George Plush Dolls (Marvel Toys); Tabletop Puppet Theaters (Guidecraft Inc.); Deluxe Wood Art Sets (J.C. Penney); Princess Magnetic Travel Art Set Lap Desks (CBOCS Distribution, Inc.); Collectible “Jeff Gordon” Mini Helmets (Riddell Inc.); Kidnastics Balance Beams (Flaghouse Inc.); Bookmarks and Journals (Antioch Publishing); Children’s Toy Decorating Sets (Toys “R” Us); Baby Einstein Discover & Play Color Blocks (Kids II Inc.); Wooden Pull-Along Alphabet & Math Blocks Wagons, Wooden Pull-Along Learning Blocks Wagons, 10-in-1 Activity Learning Carts, and Flip-Flop Alphabet Blocks (KB Toys stores); Pull-Back Action Toy Cars (Dollar General stores); Dragster and Funny Car toys (International Sourcing Ltd.); “Big Red” Wagons (Northern Tool & Equipment); “Galaxy Warriors” Toy Figures (Henry Gordy International, Inc.); Elite Operations Toys (Toys “R” Us); Ribbit Board Games (SimplyFun LLC); and “Robot 2000” collectable tin robot, Dizzy Ducks Music Box, Winnie-the-Pooh Spinning Top, and Duck Family Collectable Wind-Up Toy (Schylling Associates Inc).
Parents may also want to know that the CPSC has evaluated a variety of commonly used consumer lead test kits, and found the products to be poor overall in quality. Many offered multiple false negatives and false positives results, and none of the kits consistently detected lead in products if the lead was covered with a non-leaded coating. The CPSC says that consumers should not use lead test kits to evaluate consumer products for potential lead hazards. Instead, the CPSC says that consumers who suspect a child has been exposed to excessive levels of lead should immediately contact the child’s physician.
Lead isn’t the only Grinch this year. One of the most popular toys suffering from a recall are Aqua Dots, toy beads found to be coated in a chemical that, when swallowed, can turn into Gamma Hydroxybutyric Acid (GHB), the so-called “date-rape” drug. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), ingesting the chemical can cause breathing problems, loss of consciousness or coma, seizures, drowsiness, and even death. Worldwide about a dozen children have become sick. Due to a lag time between when advertisements are put together and printed and when they actually appear in circulars in newspapers, Aqua Dots, made by Spin Master, were still included in some Toys “R” Us fliers as recently as Black Friday. This caused concern for parents who, upon seeing the ad, thought that the recalled product had been re-released with the offending aspect fixed. They were not and the product is not for sale.
Unfortunately, other items that may have been big sellers for the season have been included in recent recall notices. Here are nine such popular items. NOTE: Unless listed otherwise, these items were available at multiple retailers nationwide.
• Snow and Sand Castle Kits (Paricon Inc.): The largest plastic castle block maker in the kit could crack at the handle during use, creating sharp edges and posing a laceration hazard. Sold exclusively by L.L. Bean retail stores nationwide, catalogs and Web site
• Laugh & Learn Learning Kitchen Toys (Fisher-Price Inc.): Pieces of the faucet or the clock hands can detach, posing a choking hazard.
• Baja Motorsports ATVs: Lack of a tire pressure gauge and flag pole mounting bracket pose a risk of injury to riders.
• Bon-Ton Girls and Boys Bath Robes: Fail to meet the children’s sleepwear flammability standard
• 5” TFT Portable DVD/CD/MP3 Player with TV Tuner and Digital AM/FM Tuner and 5.6” TFT Portable DVD/CD/MP3 Player and NTSC TV Tuner (Coby Electronics Corp.): Can overheat, posing a fire hazard.
• 2006 Line X-Fly and Line Pro Ski Boards: Screws installed improperly can cause the bindings to come loose or pull off the ski board during use, causing the skier to lose control or fall.
• Girls’ Boots (Payless ShoeSource): The guitar-shaped zipper pulls on each boot can interlock while a child is walking, causing the child to trip and fall.
• 2007 Huffy “Howler” and “Highland” Bicycles: The bicycle crank can unexpectedly come off, causing the rider to lose control and fall. Sold exclusively at Kmart.
• “Home Trend Kids 9 Canvas Bin Boy’s and Girl’s Organizers” (Jetmax International Ltd.): The storage rack can tip over, posing an entrapment and suffocation hazard to young children. Sold exclusively at Wal-Mart.
NOTE: The product information listed in this article is general, offering consumers basic name, manufacturer and retail facts. For details on each specific item recalled, see the releases at www.cpsc.gov.