The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) counted 235,000 toy-related injuries in 2008. The most recent data from the CPSC indicates nearly half (47 percent) of the estimated emergency room-treated injuries are classified as lacerations, contusions or abrasions. Toy-related injuries sent more than 82,000 children under the age of five to emergency rooms in 2008.

The annual average of estimated toy-related injuries from 2006 to 2008 is 229,600. Nineteen children died from toy-related injuries last year, down from 22 in 2007 and 28 in 2006.

More than a third (38 percent) of non-food consumer products recalled are toys and children's equipment, and there is a significant peak in recalls for products in this category during the December-January months, according to a new study by Blueview Group, a UK-based customer management agency.

However, in the United States, toy recalls have dropped to 38 so far this year, from 162 last year and 148 in 2007, Inez Tenenbaum, chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, told reporters earlier this month. Recalls of children's products with excessive lead levels have decreased from 85 last year to 15 this year, Tenenbaum said. In 2007, 45 million toys were recalled.

The wave of toy recalls throughout that year, including lead-laced toys played with by millions of children, prompted businesses and regulators to redouble efforts to protect children from unsafe toys.

Last month, the Toy Industry Association (TIA) launched its Toy Safety Certification Program, a comprehensive initiative that adds an extra level of scrutiny to ensure toys are manufactured to comply with safety standards.

In 2008, Congress approved broad changes to consumer safety laws, in response to dangerously high levels of lead in thousands of toys imported from China that year and the year prior. The resultant Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) joined the Consumer Product Safety Act, the Federal Hazardous Substances Act and other rigorous testing and inspection procedures already in place to ensure that toys available for children are safe.

The CPSIA gives the CPSC increased regulatory powers, backed up by funding increases for the agency, beefs up standards and requires mandatory third-party toy testing. The CPSIA, which bans six chemicals from children's products and lowers the lead limit for them, now requires that manufacturers test for lead and certain chemicals in products for children ages 12 and younger.

As reported by the Los Angeles Times late last year, this means even small businesses that, say, don't even use paint (much less import products from Chinese factories) will be required to spend large sums of money to certify their toys are safe.

The Handmade Toy Alliance, a group of toy stores, toymakers and children's product manufacturers across the U.S., says that the CPSIA could be improved by exempting small businesses and by recognizing that certain manufacturing processes shouldn't require lead paint testing; for instance, if manufacturers' toys aren't painted or don't use plastic.

Moreover, despite the new law, a public interest group has found a number of toys at major retailers that contain the chemicals and illegal amounts of lead. Earlier this year, the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) warned that while many manufacturers and retailers are complying with the new law, a handful are not, and it is hard for consumers to tell the difference.

In NYPIRG's fourth annual Trouble in Toyland report, one category covers toys that have pieces that could be choking hazards and another category concerns potentially toxic levels of hazardous chemicals. The Washington Post reports that the group sent 15 children's products to an independent laboratory for testing; four were found to have excessive lead levels and two contained phthalates. A cloth book that the organization had tested contained lead levels in the paint at 1,900 parts per million.

With the busiest toy-buying season upon us, manufacturers hope their redoubled efforts to protect children from toxic toys may improve consumers' recently wavering confidence in the safety of toys on the market.

Earlier

Effective Recalls and the Perilous Easy-Bake Oven

Danger in Santa's Goody Bag

Another Blow to the Toy Titan

Two Tales of Terror/Tragedy

Follow-up: Mattel's Apology Lost in Translation

China Declares War on Dangerous Products

The 12 Big Stories of 2007

Toy Safety Bill Signed into Law

Resources

Toy-Related Deaths and Injuries - Calendar Year 2008
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 2009

Toxic Toys - Product Recalls Spike At Christmas
Blueview Group (via ContactCenterWorld.com), Nov. 26, 2009

Fewer Dangerous Toys on Shelves - but Safety Still an Issue
by Amanda Paulson
The Christian Science Monitor, Nov. 25, 2009

Toy Safety Certification Program Announces First Toy Product Certifications
Toy Industry Association, Nov. 18, 2009

Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act

Consumer Product Safety Act

Federal Hazardous Substances Act

For Toy Makers, Rules to Protect Kids May be Toxic
by Alana Semuels
The Los Angeles Times, Dec. 23, 2008

Possible Solutions to Improve the CPSIA
Handmade Toy Alliance

Unsafe Toys Identified in New York Stores November-December 2009
New York Public Interest Research Group, Dec. 2, 2009

Lead, Chemicals Found in Toys Despite Stricter Law
by Lyndsey Layton
The Washington Post, Nov. 25, 2009