Two consumer watchdog groups have released their lists of dangerous toys. The World Against Toys Causing Harm (W.A.T.C.H.), released is annual list of the 10 worst children’s toys, while the Center for Environmental Health released its list of toys they believe have dangerous levels of lead paint.

WATCH’s list of toys typically have a choking hazard for small children, a risk of head injury or a risk of eye injuries. “A lot of the same hazards we see, year after year, are still appearing on the shelves,” said James Swartz, an attorney and director of group that has produced the list each year since 1972. In previous years, the group has had some success in getting some toys pulled from the shelves. The need for safe toys is obvious when you consider that the Consumer Products Safety Commission reports that in 2008 at least 19 toy-related deaths occurred in the United States alone, and that there were also about 235,300 toy-related injuries treated in hospital emergency rooms.

WATCH’S 2009 List of Toys they considered dangerous included:

1. DISNEY-PIXAR WALL-E FOAM ROCKET LAUNCHER
2. MOON BOARD POGO BOARD
3. CURIOUS BABY CURIOUS GEORGE COUNTING – MY FIRST BOOK OF NUMBERS
4. THE DARK KNIGHT BATMAN FIGURE
5. X-MEN ORIGINS SLASHIN’ ACTION WOLVERINE. The group said the Wolverine has pointed plastic claws protruding some 1.5 inches from each fist. The right claw pops out and retracts upon impact, while the left stays rigid upon contact.
6. LOTS TO LOVE BABIES – “mini nursery
7. JUST KIDZ JUNIOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
8. CAT rugged mini. A Play School “Caterpillar” dump truck has a wheel that with a hard tug can be pulled off, potentially leaving a child as young as 18 months – the suggested age group for the toy – holding a 3-inch metal spike.
9. PUCCI PUPS MALTESE, and
10. SPY GEAR VIPER-BLASTER

Warnings on packaging for a pogo board said that an elastic cord, if pulled taut and then released, “could spring back and cause injury,” and that inexperienced users should wear safety gear

Although many of these products have warning labels. The WATCH group recognizes that children will often ignore those warnings, and those the children will be exposed to the specific hazard that the manufacturer is warning against. “When you see all kinds of warnings about where to use the product, when to use the product, how to use the product – it’s best to stay away from the product,” said Swartz.

Toys With High Lead Levels

The Center for Environmental Health tested 250 children’s products being sold this year and reports that it found Children’s toys carrying the Barbie and Disney logos have turned up with high levels of lead in them, according to a California-based advocacy group — a finding that may give consumers pause as they shop for the holiday season.

The Center for Environmental Health tested about 250 children’s products bought at major retailers and found lead levels that exceeded federal limits in seven of them. Lead is known to be dangerous because it can cause irreversible brain damage.

The toys making the list for high lead levels were:

1. Barbie Bike Flair Accessory Kit
2. Disney Tinkerbell Water Lily necklace.
3. Dora the Explorer Activity Tote,
4. two pairs of children’s shoes,
5. a boy’s belt and
6. a kids’ poncho.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown has sent letters to Target, Wal-Mart and the other retailers who sold the seven products, warning that children’s goods on their store shelves were found to contain illegal levels of lead and should be pulled immediately.

Following a number of revelations about lead-tainted toys in 2007, including the recall of over 2 million toys sold by Mattel, a product safety law was enacted that contained strict limits on the amounts of lead and chemicals allowed in products made for children 12 years and younger.

Manufacture’s Response to Allegations of High Lead Levels:

Mattel said it licensed the Barbie name to Bell Sports for the bike accessory kit found with high lead, but did not make or sell it. Bell said the kit was an older product that passed safety tests in 2007, but the company didn’t know it was still on store shelves.

Disney said the Tinkerbell necklace was tested by its licensee, Playmates Toys, before being distributed — and that it complied with all federal and state consumer safety regulations.

The Center for Environmental Health in Oakland, Calif., said the Barbie toy was bought at Tuesday Morning and the Tinkerbell jewelry was purchased at Walgreens. The other products the center said had high lead came from TJ Maxx, Sears, Wal-Mart and Target.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission, which regulates toys and thousands of other products, is looking into the matter.

Following the well publicized deaths of three children who were strangled by cords, six companies have issued recall notices for millions of window blinds and shades. The recall covers:

• 4.2 million roll-up blinds with plastic slats made by Lewis Hyman Inc.;
• 600,000 Woolrich Roman shades;
• blinds and shades made by Vertical Land Inc. of Panama City Beach, Fla.;
• Roman shades by Pottery Barn Kids/Williams-Sonoma Inc.;
• 245,000 Lutron Shading Solutions fabric roller shades; and
• 163,000 Roman shades by Victoria Classics.

If you have small children in your home or if small children visit your home, you should check your blinds to ensure that the cords do not present a safety hazard. You can contact the manufactures for details on the recalled products. In addition, if you have small children that you place in an in-home day care facility, you should check the blinds to make sure that they are safe.

If you or your loved ones have been seriously injured by a dangerous or defective product, contact Montes Herald Law Group, LLP for a free, no obligation, case review. Visit our website at https://www.monteslawgroup.com/ for more information on the types of cases our firm handles.

By Rachel E. Montes posted in Defective Products: Product Recalls on Monday, August 17, 2009

In a story released by the Los Angeles Times, it is reported that Little Tikes is recalling 1.6 million toy workshops and trucks after an 11 month-old child choked on a plastic nail included in in the Electronic Project Workshop. The voluntary recall covers five toy models sold by Little Tikes as far back as March 1994, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said. The problem involves the bright red and blue plastic nails that accompanied the Hudson, Ohio-based company’s:

• Electronic Project Workshop,
• The Little Handiworker Workhorse,
• The Home Improvements Two-sided Workshop,
• The Swirlin’ Sawdust Workshop and
• The Black Pickup Truck with Tools.

The toys were sold by major retailers including Toys R Us as well as online at www.littletikes.com and other websites. Consumers should immediately take the toy nails away from young children and contact Little Tikes for a free replacement.

Little Tikes has released a statement that the toys were intended for children ages 2 and older. The child who swallowed the toy part was an 11-month-old boy from Goose Creek, S.C. The plastic nail — about 3¼ inches long by 1¼ inch in diameter — “forcefully lodged” in the boy’s throat. He was hospitalized and has made a full recovery. Some of the products are no longer sold by the company. But the toys may have been handed down to new owners or sold at garage sales.

Contact Montes Law Group, P.C., if you believe your child has been harmed because of a dangerous product or toy.

In May of 2009, a lawsuit was filed against Johnson & Johnson, the world’s largest maker of health-care products, and Proctor & Gamble Co. and other manufacturers sold shampoo and personal-care products containing formaldehyde and other carcinogenic compounds known to cause cancer. Among the products at issue included in the lawsuit are Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Shampoo” and other top-selling children’s bath and personal care products. Johnson & Johnson reported sales of $63.7 billion last year alone.

We will continue to monitor the case as Johnson & Johnson will eventually be forced to disclose under oath why they permitted their products to be manufactured and sold with carcinogenic compounds and why this information was not disclosed to consumers with warnings. Consumers have a right to know what chemicals and agents are placed into the products they purchase. More importantly, manufacturers of these products have a responsibility to design, manufacture and to provide warnings on products they place into the stream of commerce that are not unreasonably dangerous.

If you or a family member has been seriously injured by a product that you feel was not designed in a safe manner, or was defectively manufactured or did not include sufficient warnings, be sure to contact Rachel Montes or Tom Herald at Montes Herald Law Group, LLP for a free case evaluation. Visit our website at www.MontesLawGroup.com to learn more about our law firm. Our firm is located in Irving, Texas in the middle of the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex. Montes Herald is dedicated to representing people who have been seriously injured through the negligence and will disregard of others.

The Chicago Tribune reports that approximately 25,000 Travel Tender playpens, made in China and imported by Simplicity Inc. and SFCA Inc. of Reading, Pa., have been recalled because one or more rails can collapse unexpectedly, posing a possible hazard to children. The items were reportedly sold at Burlington Coat Factory stores nationwide and online at Babiesrus.com, Target.com and Kohls.com from March 2005 through January of 2009. Dangerous products needlessly injure and kill thousands of Americans each year because these corporations put profits above consumer safety. Contact Montes Law Group, P.C. if you or someone in your family has been seriously injured or killed as a result of a dangerous product.