Not all toys are created equally safe

ByABC News
November 15, 2011, 6:10 PM

— -- Linda Bump saved all her son's toys in hopes of passing them onto her grandchildren. But her son Austin, now 29, says his new baby can't play with them because of the small parts and other safety concerns. And a recent gift is off limits, too.

"I bought him Legos, if you can believe it," says Bump, 59, of Boulder, Colo. "He said, 'Mom, what are you thinking? He's too little.' "

A lot's changed in toy safety in the last 30 years, but a lot has also changed in the last three years since a sweeping new product-safety law took effect.

Many people like to say there weren't all these rules when they were kids, and they turned out just fine. But there also wasn't the sophisticated safety data collection that exists today showing the risks of small parts and other toy hazards. That's why Bump says she'll pay closer attention this time around.

"If you're shopping at a retailer that you know and trust, you know they've made the assurances that the products on their shelves comply" with the latest safety rules, says Joan Lawrence, the Toy Industry Association's vice president of regulatory affairs.

Here are some things to keep in mind, according to toy safety experts:

•Beware of cheap, little toys. It can be tempting to buy these kinds of toys at flea markets or small discount stores, but they often present the biggest problems, safety experts say. Watch out for "flimsy," says Sue DeRagon, toy safety chief at the independent product safety testing and certification organization UL.

•Check for an age-related warning on the product. A toy for a child under age 3 can't have a small part they could choke on. That's why toys are labeled as being not for children under 3 — not because the children might not be advanced enough for them. A good, quick way to check: Balls or other toys for children younger than 3 should not be small enough to fit through a toilet paper roll, says UL consumer affairs specialist John Drengenberg.

•Read labels closely. With all the warnings and long instructions that come with some products, many have stopped paying attention. That's a big mistake: Assembling a toy incorrectly could lead to loose parts that become choking hazards, or sharp edges.

•Watch out for toys with magnets, marbles, balloons and button-size batteries when buying for young children or toys that will be around young children. DeRagon recommends parents and other gift givers consider not just the ages, but how the children they're buying for play with toys: Older children often put toys in their mouths, too.

•Resist buying toys because you think children can share them with siblings who are younger than 3. Bump says she had to "hover" over Austin and his older sister, Coulter, when the two were using her play kitchen as small children. He'd still wind up with plastic food pieces in his mouth, she says.

•Check CPSC's new incident database, SaferProducts.gov, to see if others have reported problems with any toy you are mulling. "This holiday season, there are tools at consumers' fingertips that didn't exist before," says the Consumer Federation of America's Rachel Weintraub.

•Consider including with the gift a card listing CPSC's website, www.CPSC.gov. The site allows parents to sign up for e-mail notification of recalls and press releases.

Parents and other caregivers should pay close attention to the instructions and warnings, says human factors psychologist Carol Pollack-Nelson.

"Manufacturers have to take responsibility to make a safe product," says Pollack-Nelson, a consultant to manufacturers and product safety groups. "But consumers have to take responsibility to make sure they're buying, using and assembling it the way manufacturers are asking them to."