The toys contained hazardous materials, including lead paint, or had small parts that pose choking hazards for children.
One shipment contained nearly 22,000 toys that had
one or both violations. Another contained 444 lighters in the shapes of
farm animals, complete with realistic sounds, that children could have
mistaken for toys.
The items were headed all over the country, although Customs and
Other products intercepted this year include black
toy guns that could be easily confused for real firearms and yellow toy
ducks with lead paint.
This year, the federal government lowered the limits
for lead in paint on children’s toys to 90 parts per million, which is
among the lowest in the world, and most children’s toys must meet these
and other standards, some of which were voluntary.
In 2008, the agency had reports of 19 toy-related
deaths and about 172,700 hospital emergency room treated toy-related
injuries to children under 15. Almost half affected children younger
than 5. Most of the deaths were associated with drowning, motor
vehicles or airway obstruction from a small toy or small part of a toy.
Last year, imports from
Toys that have been recalled by the federal consumer protection agency are listed at http://cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/category/toy.html and include pictures of the items.
Via McClatchy-Tribune News Service.
