W.A.T.C.H. world against toys causing harm, inc.

Boston consumer advocates and trial attorneys, Edward M. Swartz, James A. Swartz (1), and Joan E. Siff, on behalf of W.A.T.C.H., Inc., will present W.A.T.C.H.’s annual nominees for its “10 Worst Toys” list at a conference in Boston at The Franciscan Hospital for Children. Dangerous toys continue to abound in toy boxes and on store shelves despite recent media attention and legislative action. An astounding number of defective toys are still reaching the marketplace as evidenced by the slew of recalls in the last year. In the nearly twelve month period since W.A.T.C.H.’s last “10 Worst Toys” conference, there have been at least sixty-six (66) toy recalls representing over seven million eight hundred ninety thousand (7,890,000) units of dangerous toys polluting the marketplace. These staggering numbers are clearly suggestive of a broken system that needs fixing before more children are harmed. One focus of the 2008 conference is the need for improved toy labeling and warnings to provide the consumer with point-of-purchase information about hazards.

While truth in packaging should be a priority for the toy industry, toys being marketed reveal a serious lapse in warnings and labels on children’s products. Whether purchasing toys in stores or on the Internet, obtaining accurate, consistent and complete product information prior to purchase remains an issue for consumers. Toy manufacturers too often provide inaccurate and incomplete language when it comes to warning consumers about hazards. Parents should not need to decode obscure and obtuse messages on toy packages. Rather, toy companies, with years of understanding the risks associated with toys, should alert consumers with straightforward, understandable, distinct, and visible labeling on toy packaging. This year’s list includes examples of packaging and labeling which fail to give the consumer fair warning of dangers that are known, or should be known, by the manufacturer.

The alarming number of recent toy recalls is evidence of an industry that has put profits before child safety. Many of the recalls issued were the result of lead and small parts violations, hazards that are known to the manufacturers. Toxic toys with excessive lead content accounted for at least twenty-six (26) toy recalls, representing over six hundred seventy thousand (670,000) units, since W.A.T.C.H.’s 2007 “10 Worst Toys” conference. Lead, which accumulates in a child’s body over time, can cause permanent, irreversible injuries such as growth and behavioral problems, learning disabilities, and death.

Further evidence of the toy industry’s ineffective safety practices includes the numerous toy recalls for small parts hazards in the last 12 months. Choking alone is the cause of 44 percent of toy-related deaths. Nevertheless, since W.A.T.C.H.’s last “10 Worst Toys” conference, the CPSC has recalled at least twenty-five (25) toys posing a choking, ingestion and/or aspiration risk, representing over five million three hundred fifty thousand (5,350,000) defective units marketed and sold.

While proper labeling, recalls and regulations are important for toy safety, toy manufacturers have a responsibility to ensure only safe products reach the marketplace. The millions of dangerous toys flooding store shelves before their hazards are identified highlight the inadequacy of current safety protocols. There is simply no excuse for toy companies making dangerous toys available to consumers. The burden must be on manufacturers and retailers, not consumers, to identify the known hazards before their products enter the channels of commerce.

The recent Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (“the Act”) will require the toy industry to be more accountable for the safety of its products. However, policing such a large industry remains a significant challenge. Thus, the first line of defense in preventing injuries to children has to be the responsibility of the toy industry for the safe design and manufacturer of children’s products. Injuries will be prevented only when toy makers put the safety of children before profits.

BUYERS BEWARE—HAZARDOUS TOYS ABOUND ON STORE SHELVES, SERIOUS INJURIES CAN RESULT

While there has been recent increased focus on toy safety by the media and the government, dangerous toys are not a new problem. For over three decades, W.A.T.C.H. has identified toys defectively designed or manufactured that could lead to serious injuries or death. Despite these efforts, there remain an alarming number of dangerous toys on retail shelves. Many toys can still be found with small parts that can be mouthed and occlude a child’s airway. According to the CPSC, in 2006, nine (9) children died when they choked on or aspirated a toy. In addition to the risk of lead exposure and choking, there are other known hazards that reappear year after year, including strangulation, impact injuries, burns, impalement, puncture wounds, and lacerations. The CPSC reported that in 2006 alone, there were at least twenty (22) toy-related deaths to children under 15 years old, and an estimated two hundred twenty thousand five hundred (220,500) toy-related injuries treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms. Toys and games represent a thirty-billion-dollar-a-year industry. In the United States, over three billion toys are sold each year. Consumers have a right to expect that toys they select for their children be designed with safety as a priority. The toy companies, retailers and government must listen and act when dangerous toys are brought to their attention to prevent a recurrence of the same hazards—and the same injuries—year after year.

The “10 Worst Toys” list is one of the ways W.A.T.C.H. continues the fight to protect our children from unsafe toys. 2 Protecting our children will, however, take more than a list of illustrative harmful toys. Safety for our children in the year 2008 and beyond will only occur when preventing injuries caused by unsafe toys becomes a number one priority for the toy industry and the government regulatory agencies.

James Swartz then presented W.A.T.C.H.’s nominees for this year’s “10 Worst Toys” list. The list exposes toy hazards seen year after year, despite continued efforts to educate and inform the industry. Swartz stressed these particular toys are illustrative of some hazards in toys being sold to consumers, and should not be considered as the only hazardous toys on the market. Nominees for the year 2008 are as follows:
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