Toy safety

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Magnetix, a popular construction toy selling over 3.8 million units, was recalled after injuries and a fatality when magnets came loose.

Toy safety is the practice of ensuring that toys, especially those made for children, are safe, usually through the application of set safety standards. In many countries, commercial toys must be able to pass safety tests in order to be sold. In the U.S., some toys must meet national standards, while other toys may not have to meet a defined safety standard. In countries where standards exist, they exist in order to prevent accidents, but there have still been some high-profile product recalls after such problems have occurred. The danger is often not due to faulty design; usage and chance both play a role in injury and death incidents as well.^[1]

[edit] Potential hazards

Small toys may be swallowed by children, such as this electronic button seen in the stomach. Toys stuck in the esophagus or too large to pass through the stomach may need to be removed with endoscopes.

Common scenarios include:

• Choking or aspiration of small parts
• Strangulation
• Cuts by sharp parts of the toy
• Injury by projectiles
• Drowning
• Motor vehicle incidents involving toys

[edit] Accident frequency

Accidents involving toys are quite common, with 40,000 happening each year in the United Kingdom (according to 1998 figures^[2] - data has not been collected in the UK since 2003^[3]), accounting for less than 1% of annual accidents. In 2005 in the U.S., 20 children under 15 years of age died in incidents associated with toys, and an estimated 202,300 children under 15 were treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms for injuries associated with toys, according to data from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's National Electronic Injury Surveillance System.^[4] In the European Union, no fatal accidents have been reported in the European Injury Database since 2002.^[5]

[edit] Safety standards

Distinction must be drawn between regulations and voluntary safety standards. From the table below, it can be seen that many regions model their safety standards on the EU's EN71 standard, either directly, or through adoption of the ISO 8124 standard which itself is modelled on EN71.

(Source: ICTI Toy Safety Standards)

In Europe toys must meet the criteria set by the EC Toy Safety Directive (essentially that a toy be safe, which may be addressed by testing to European Standard EN71) in order for them to carry the CE mark. All European Union member states have transposed this directive into law - for example, the UK's Toy (safety) Regulations 1995 act.^[6] Trading Standards Officers in the UK, similarly to appropriate authorities in the other EU member states, have the power to immediately demand the withdrawal of a toy product from sale on safety grounds via the RAPEX recall notification system (used for all products subject to European safety legislation).^[7][1] In Canada the government department Health Canada has the responsibility of ensuring product safety, just as the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) does in the United States. Australian and New Zealand toy safety standards (following the approximate model of the European Toy Safety Standard) have been adopted by the ISO as International Standard ISO 8124. Toy safety standards are continually updated and modified^[8] as the understanding of risks increases and new products are developed.

[edit] Appropriate age

Manufacturers often display information about the intended age of the children who will play with the toy. In the U.S. this label is sometimes mandated by the CPSC, especially for toys which may present a choking hazard for children under three years of age. In most countries the intended age is either shown as a minimum age or as an age range. While one reason for this is the complexity of the toy and how much it will interest or challenge children of different ages, another is to highlight that it may be unsafe for younger children. While a toy might be suitable for children of one age, and thus this is the age recommended on the product, there may be safety hazards associated with a lower age group, necessitating a mandatory warning. Some manufacturers also explain the specific dangers next to the advised age (as is mandated by European and International toy safety standards EN71 and ISO 8124 respectively, but not US standard ASTM 963).^[9] Some accidents occur when babies play with toys intended for older children.^[1]

[edit] European regulations

In Europe, the comprehensive legislation addressing toy safety is the Toy Safety Directive of the European Union (EU), (Council Directive 88/378/EEC). This directive is a list of requirements toys must comply with, and is interpreted in the laws of each member state of the EU in their respective Toy Safety Regulations (e.g.: the UK's Toys (Safety) Regulations 1995 (Statutory Instrument 1995 No. 204)). Compliance leads to a CE Mark, which is a mandatory requirement for selling the toy in the EU market. Some items included in the scope of this legislation which are not usually considered toys are; fashion jewellery for children, Christmas decorations, and air guns. The directive provides EU-wide standards on physical and mechanical properties, flammability, chemical properties, electrical properties, hygiene, and radioactivity. The Toys Safety Directive (and subsequent state regulations) also calls for the closest applicable national or international standards to be applied where a standard is not specified in the Directive. This interpretive clause is present to ensure that new and innovative toys are safe before being placed on the market. The EN71 Toy Safety Standard has been harmonised by the EC as the default standard which toys must meet. If a toy is found to be unsafe (by breaching one of the specified standards, or by a manifest risk of injury not specified in standards) then the producer (the manufacturer, or the first importer into the EU of the product unit in question) is held to be guilty of an offence under the Toys (Safety) Regulations (or equivalent EU state law). The principle of due diligence (whereby the producer argues that all reasonable steps were taken to ensure the safety of the consumer with regards to the toy) may be used by the producer to avoid prosecution, fines and possible imprisonment. The unsafe toy is withdrawn from the EU market, with all member states' authorities being notified by means of the RAPEX alert system.

[edit] Chinese Regulations

China's toy industry has been regulated since early 2007 by the expansion of the nation's compulsory certification system to include toy products. Regulations require a manufacturers to apply for China Compulsory Certification (CCC) from the nation's Certification and Accreditation Administration (CNCA). From March 1, toy producers in China have been able to apply to three certification agencies nominated by the CNCA to certify their products. Toys are subject to inspection and certification review. Since June 1, 2007, no toy products without CCCs has been be allowed to leave factories, be sold or be imported into China. It is hoped this measure will mitigate the increasing international pressure on environmental protection, as well as further expand the nation's toy export market.^[10] This increase in scrutiny was introduced before the 2007 Chinese export recalls.

[edit] Product recalls and safety hazards

The ability to recall a product from the market is a necessary part of any safety legislation. If existing quality and safety checks fail to detect an issue prior to sale, a systematic method of notifying the public and removing potentially hazardous products from the market is needed. Some toys have been discovered to have been unsafe after they have been placed on the market. Before the introduction of safety monitoring organisations the toys were simply stopped being manufactured if any action was taken at all^{[citation needed]}, but since then there have been many toys that have been recalled by their manufacturer. In some notable cases the problem has only been found after the injury or even death of a person that purchased the product.

[edit] Examples

[edit] Bindeez

Batches of Bindeez were recalled in November 2007 when, after several children swallowed beads and were adversely affected. Upon ingestion, a chemical used in the product metabolized in the stomach into the so-called "date-rape drug," GHB. The design called for a different, non-toxic chemical, but this had been substituted with an alternative chemical, which had approximately the same functional properties.^[11]

[edit] Cabbage Patch Snacktime Kids

The Cabbage Patch Kids dolls were very popular in the 1980s across North America and many parts of Europe. The "Cabbage Patch Kids Snacktime Kids" line of dolls was an early 1990s incarnation designed to "eat" plastic snacks. The mechanism was a pair of one-way metal rollers behind a plastic slot and rubber lips, and there were 35 reported incidents where a child's hair or finger was caught in the mouths. On 31 December 1996, after 700,000 dolls were distributed in the United States in just five months, the CPSC along with manufacturers Mattel announced that they would place warning information labels on all unsold dolls.^[12] A week later, in January 1997, CPSC and Mattel announced that all Cabbage Patch Kids Snacktime Kids Dolls were being removed from the market.^[13]

[edit] Lawn darts

A safety warning given out by the CPSC.

Lawn darts are large, weighted darts intended to be tossed underhand towards a horizontal ground target. On 19 December 1988, all lawn darts were banned from sale in the United States by the Consumer Product Safety Commission after they were responsible for the deaths of three children.^[14]

[edit] Magnetix

One death and four serious injuries led to the recall of 3.8 million Magnetix building sets in March 2006. The magnets inside the plastic building pieces could fall out and be swallowed or aspirated.^[15] MEGA Brands since then has implemented design enhancements to Magnetix, including sonic welding of panels, 100% inspection, gluing magnets into rods, elimination of 3+ labeling in favor of 6+ labeling after it assumed operational control of Rose Art on Jan. 1, 2006. Only safe and improved products are currently on store shelves^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Polly Pocket

In November 2006 4.4 million Polly Pocket play sets were recalled by Mattel after children in the United States swallowed loose magnetic parts. The toys had been sold around the world commencing three years previous.^[16]

[edit] Statistics

Using the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (http://www.cpsc.gov/LIBRARY/data.html) figures the number of annual reported child toy-related deaths and injuries, compared with CPSC expenditure and total toy sales in the US by year are tabulated below.

It has been contended the rise after 1999 in injuries may be in part due to increased imports from China and a decreasing CPSC budget.^{[citation needed]} Notice that the amount allocated to CPSC for Reducing Children's Hazards by year has annually decreased since 1999.

†Amount no longer given but combined with other categories -- this is sometimes done to give an agency added flexibility; however, at times this is done to falsely show an increase in funding when there is no way to assess how much will be spent for a specific task.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References