Toy Safety Questions and Answers

In 1985, the majority of the toy-related injuries were lacerations, contusions and abrasions when the victims were hit by toys, or fell off, over, or into them. Riding toys, such as tricycles, low-slung three-wheeled type toys, rocking horses and wagons were associated with more injuries treated in hospital emergency rooms than any other type of toy. Other kinds of toys frequently reported included disk-shaped flying toys, toy weapons (such as guns, bows and arrows, and slingshots) and toy chests.

The next largest category of injuries involved the ingestion or aspiration of small toys or parts of toys, or insertions of these objects into the nose or ears. Such toys include crayons, chalk, marbles and other small parts from toys.

Injuries involving riding toys, toy boxes and blocks, tended to occur to children under five years, while disk-shaped flying toys, toy weapons, models and balls, tended to be associated with injuries to older children.

Most toy-related injuries appeared to be fairly minor, in that about 1.5 percent of the injuries required hospitalization as compared to an overall 3.8 percent of emergency hospitalization for all injuries treated in hospital emergency rooms in 1985.

The Commission has set mandatory safety standards for electric toys, bicycles, pacifiers, and infant rattles, toys with sharp points and edges, lead in paint used in toys, and toys with small parts. There are approximately 150,000 different toys on the Market and the Commission cannot test them all. It is the manufacturer's responsibility to assure that its products meet the requirements Many toy manufacturers have extensive testing programs. The Commission does some testing to check for compliance and to follow up on consumer complaints. However, it is not the policy of CPSC to "approve or endorse" toys for safety.

The commission also investigate possible defects in children's products that could present substantial risks of injury to children that are not covered by mandatory regulations. Factors such as the pattern of defect, the number of such products distributed in commerce and the severity of the risk are taken into consideration during the investigation. When appropriate, companies generally work cooperatively with the Commission staff to develop and implement voluntary corrective action plans to recall or otherwise correct products which may present substantial risks of injury to children.

A firm's taking corrective action does not constitute admission by the firm that a substantial risk of injury to children exists.

During the past year, CPSC investigated consumer and trade complaints and reports of injuries and deaths by conducting inspections of toy manufacturers, importers and distributors and by collecting and testing samples of suspect toys. Manufacturers and importers have been requested to take corrective actions for those toys which violate safety standards or otherwise present substantial risks of injury to children. Corrective actions may include some or all of the following: ceasing distribution, correcting the violation or hazard in future production, recalling from retail stores, and recalling from consumers. CPSC determines what is the appropriate corrective action based on the severity of the hazard presented by the subject toy.

In FY 1986, 24 corrective action plans for toys and other children's articles were accepted by the Commission' Fifty five toys and children's articles which were in violation of safety requirements were also recalled, These lists are available from the Commission.

The Commission discontinued the "banned toy list" in 1975 for several. reasons:

Toys that have been banned or recalled have been removed from retail shelves. Manufacturers have the responsibility to notify retailers if a product is being recalled and is to be taken off the shelves. When a toy is recalled, the Commission often issues a press release to alert both retailers and consumers. Since these are released during the year (as needed), a single list would require constant updating.

Often manufacturers redesign their products to remove 4 potential hazard. Consumers might mistake the redesigned safe toy for the toy on a "banned toy list" if the redesigned toy does not look substantially different from the original toy.

Since the Commission does not have the resources to check all toys for safety, the "banned toy list" was misleading because it implied that any toy not on the list was safe.

Every manufacturer and importer is responsible for assuring that their products meet the Commission's requirements. Manufacturers are also required to report products that fail to meet the requirements or contain defects that could present a substantial risk of injury to children. Many manufacturers and importers have extensive testing programs to assure compliance with the mandatory and voluntary standards

The trade association, The Toy Manufacturers of America, Inc., (TMA), developed a voluntary standard for toy safety which was first published in 1976. It contains many requirements and tests, and, during 1986, a revised version of the standard was republished with additional safety requirements.

DEHP is a chemical that has been used in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic products, including vinyl pacifiers, plastic baby pants, toys and the vinyl-covered bumper pads used in cribs. DEHP may present a potential carcinogenic risk to humans.

Consumers who wish to know whether or not their pacifiers (or other products) contain DEHR should call the manufacturer, since the Commission has not tested individual products for the presence of this chemical. To obtain the telephone number of a specific manufacturer, the consumer should call the Commission's hotline number, 800-633-CPSC.

The Commission is currently working to establish a voluntary standard on. DEHP in children's products.

The consumer Product Safety Act limits the amount of lead to 0.06% in paint and surface coatings used on toys and children's products. The standard is intended to prevent ingestion of lead which can accumulate in the body and cause behavioral and vision problems, weakness and, mental retardation and even death. When the Commission staff determines that children's products contain over 0.06% of lead, action is taken to ban the sale of these products to consumers.

The Commission estimates that approximately 25,000 children under the age of 15 were treated in hospital emergency rooms during 1985 for injuries associated with skateboards. Contributing to these injuries may have been lack of protective equipment, poor board maintenance or poor riding surfaces. Also skateboard riding requires good balance and body control. Many young skateboarders may not have developed necessary balance and could not react quickly enough to prevent injury. To avoid injury, or minimize severity of injuries, the Commission recommends the following

Be familiar with the riding surfaces Check, for cracks, holes, bumps, rocks and debris before riding. Skateboard parks and other areas set aside for skateboarding generally have a smoother riding surface.

Select a skateboard with the knowledge that they are designed with varying characteristics for different types of riding: ramp, freestyle and "street." "Street" refers to style, not using on the street.

Today's skates are made of wood, fibrous glass or some other lightweight material manufactured for specific uses. Wheels are durable shock-absorbing polyurethane. The hardness of wheels, measured in durameters, is specific to the type of board and where it will be used. For example, "street" boards are wide, with soft wheels, 85-90 durameters; freestyle boards are small, light and narrow with wheels 92-95 durameters; and ramp boards are wide with wheels 95-98 durameters. "Street" and ramp boards can be interchangeable with a switch of wheels.

Select and use protective equipment to help absorb the impact of a fall or to protect from scrapes and scratches: helmets, specially designed padding for hips, knees, elbows, wrist braces. Special skateboarding gloves are available, but an all-around purpose glove, such as a heavy work glove, also will afford protection. padded shorts also axe available. Slip-resistant shoes may help the rider keep his footing on the board.

When riding a Skateboard, never ride in the street, allow only one person per skateboard, never hitch a ride from a car or other vehicle and learn how to fall to reduce chances of being seriously injured.

While most toy-related injuries appear to be minor and are frequently the result of incidental contact with the toy, steps can be taken to reduce the likelihood of injury.

The CPSC and TMA recommend these guidelines for selecting a safe toy: