Nov 20, 2007 6:13 pm US/Pacific
CA Consumer Group Releases List Of Unsafe Toys
(CBS 5)
Kimberly Farrar, a mother of three, has been overwhelmed with all of the recent toy recalls.
"I think the problem we have as parents at the moment, is we have all these things coming out one by one," Farrar said.
So her Christmas wish? "If somebody were to put that together into an accessible list you could check that would be really useful," she said.
And that wish came true Tuesday. The California Public Interest Research Group or CALPIRG released their annual survey of toy safety, called "Trouble in Toyland."
"Every year we send researchers out to look at the store shelf and check for toy safety hazards," said Emily Rusch of CALPIRG. The survey is broken into various categories of toy safety, warning parents of everything from chocking hazards to noise hazards.
"Congress needs to give the Consumer Product Safety Council more authority and resources to protect children from unsafe toys," Rusch said.
But the Consumer Product Safety Commission or CPSC feels consumers are safe, stating, "There should be a confidence that the CPSC made a commitment to consumers that we, along with the industry, have undertaken the most intense scrutiny and investigation of products on the shelves."
Congressman Mike Honda of San Jose says that is tough to do with all of the budget cuts.
"Over the last four years the administration has been cutting their funds and they have also reduced their manpower," Honda said. "The watchdogs have no teeth."
One of the best tips, if any toy or part of a toy can fit inside of a toilet paper roll, throw it out.
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