Dangerous Toys to Avoid Giving
A lot of us are buying presents and toys for kids this year. For me, I have 2 kids and several nieces and nephews.
When shopping for toys, it’s important to know which ones pose a danger. Remember, manufacturers are in business to make money and while they may to their best to keep toys safe, I tend to rely on oversight organizations and their advice because they’re unbiased (most of the time).
Here are a couple of images from a .pdf. created by the USPIRG. I know, I had never heard of USPIRG either. They are advocates for all public interests. While it sounds political and broad, we’re just sticking to their toy tips. If you want to get into energy debates or food safety, you can just go to their main site.
These images are things that I may have purchased simply because to the normal guy (me) they don’t appear to be dangerous. Again, see their .pdf for the entire list, there are quite a few.
Ok, how innocent do these dolls look? Well apparently these dolls each have a pacifier that comes connected to the doll with a very weak string. The fear is that the string could break and the child, believing it’s a real pacifier, will put it into their mouth and choke. Kind of scary.
What the heck could be wrong with the Isty Bisty Spider Book? Well, this book wasn’t constucted very well. It contains some cheap Velcro that comes off very easily. If the Velcro falls off and is lying on the ground, guess where a baby is going to put it? Yep, straight into their windpipe.
Ok come on. What could possibly be wrong with this little hippo rhino? Well I have nothing against hippos rhinos but this guy’s surface contains something named phthalate even though it’s label clearly says “phthalate free”. So what is phthalate? Well studies on rodents involving large amounts of phthalates have shown damage to the liver, kidneys, and lungs. I am sure there are studies that say the opposite but I am not taking a chance.
Just be careful.
