HARTFORD — - She looks innocuous enough, a winsome baby doll clad in a lavender jumpsuit and matching hair band, but this toy, My First Baby Learn, can kill. One of the doll's accessories, a yellow plastic spoon — smaller than a Popsicle stick — is the culprit.
"A young child could easily choke on it," Jenn Hatch, a consumer advocate for the Connecticut Public Interest Research Group told participants during a presentation Tuesday at the Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford.
The nonprofit U.S. Public Interest Research Group released its 24th annual survey of toy safety, Trouble in Toyland, Tuesday. Last year, 19 children under the age of 15 died from toy-related injuries, the report said.
Even though My First Baby Learn and other toys don't violate the letter of current U.S. child safety laws, they can still present a hazard to children.
"Labeling is not enough," Hatch said. "Parents must be vigilant to protect their children from those toys that sneak through our toy safety regulations."
The survey highlights toys, dolls and children's games whose parts, accessories or noise levels can potentially harm children.
Since 2007, millions of lead-tainted products have been pulled from the shelves. But the threat remains, the report said.
Despite a series of highly publicized recalls and the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, which imposed stricter standards for lead content, toys containing excessive amounts of lead can still be found on shelves, the report said. Toys with high lead content can damage a child's brain and can be fatal. In 2007, a 4-year-old died of lead poisoning after he swallowed a charm from a bracelet. The charm was 99 percent lead.
And despite labeling laws and bans, toys that pose a choking hazard are also plentiful. While toys intended for use by children under age 3 are banned by the Child Safety Protection Act if they contain small parts, the group found several toys that violate the ban or barely pass the small-parts test.
This year, to help parents choose safer toys, the group has launched a website accessible by computer ( www.toysafet.net) or mobile phone (toysafety.mobi).
"You can also use the site to tell us about unsafe toys," Hatch said.
If you don't have a mobile phone, there's a low-tech method that can help shoppers determine if an item might present a choking hazard. The next time you go toy shopping, take along an empty toilet paper tube. If a toy or toy part fits inside the tube, a young child could choke on it, Hatch said.
Last year, three children died from choking or asphyxiating, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
"Each year, 217,000 children under age 14 are treated for toy-related injuries," Dr. Steven Rogers, an emergency room pediatrician at Connecticut Children's Medical Center, told participants.
"The majority of serious injuries and deaths involve riding toys — scooters, bikes or skateboards. So if Santa brings a bike or a scooter, make sure Santa brings a helmet and safety pads as well," Rogers said.
One of the most overlooked choking hazards is balloons, said Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.
"They will never make the headlines or the news the way most prominent toys do, but when they are popped they can kill," Blumenthal said.
Balloons cause more choking injuries and deaths in children than toys, marbles, balls or small parts. Children can swallow and choke on uninflated or broken balloons, medical experts say.
"They can turn celebrations into tragedies, into needless trips to the emergency room," Blumenthal said.
The survey also cited excessively loud toys, including the friendly-looking PlaySkool-brand Stompers Triceratops, whose roar exceeds the 85 decibels and the Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Learning Phone that recites the alphabet.
Eighty-five decibels is the volume limit established under American Society for Testing and Materials standards.
And a recent study found that 15 percent of children ages 6 to 17 showed signs of hearing loss.
"You know children are going to put this next to their ear," Hatch said, holding up Fisher-Price's toy cellphone. "You can hear how loud that is."
