Orange County Register

Toys that may cause hearing damage among children after long periods of exposure were highlighted in the U.S. Public Interest Research Group’s 24th annual “Trouble in Toyland” report issued Tuesday.

Despite stepped-up enforcement by the enhanced Consumer Product Safety Commission, USPIRG says that plenty of toys on the market still violate safety standards.

The group’s 34-page report, which you can read here, focuses on four areas:

• choking hazards
• loud toys
• toys with lead-based paint or metal
• children’s products made with phthalates, chemicals found in plastics.

Among the cacophonous rogues’ gallery was the Playskool’s Kota and Pals Stompers Triceratops (pictured), which emitted growls measured at 90 decibels. The American Academy of Pediatrics and other groups have established that prolonged exposure to sounds above 85 dB can result in hearing loss. The threshold is 65 for  toys held close to the ear. According to a 1998 study, nearly 15 percent of kids age 6-17 show signs of hearing loss.

Other examples of noisy toys include Mattel’s Secret Saturdays Cryptid Claw (88 dB at a distance of 25 cm), and two toddler “cell phones”: Fisher Price’s Laugh & Learning Phone, and Vtech’s Bright Lights Phone.

CHOKING: Federal law bans small parts on toys for children under 3 and requires explicit warning labels on toys that have small parts and are aimed at kids 3-6. Toys with balls smaller than 1.75 inches in diameter are banned for kids under 3. USPIRG notes that of the 19 children who died in toy-related injuries in 2008, three choked on small parts.

Examples of toys that might fit into the standard “choke test cylinder” include P&C Enterprise’s Real Wood Shape Sorter Barn (equals sign) and Hasbro’s Fur Real Baby Bird (tiny baby bottle).

LEAD: The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, passed by Congress in 2008, bans all but trace amounts in children’s toys and jewelry. In 2009 so far, 1.3 million toys or other children’s products have been recalled because of excessive amounts of lead. Products for use by children under 12 can’t have higher than 300 parts per million, and in August 2011 the limit will be 100 ppm. But USPIRG found a toy, Claire’s Alligator Cell Phone charm, which is 71 percent lead by weight.

PHTHALATES: This chemical, which has been blamed for reproductive disorders, premature delivery in mothers and early-onset puberty in kids. Several of the kinds of phthalates are now banned, except in tiny concentrations of 1,000 parts per million. But USPIRG found two toys that far exceed those levels: Claire’s Boutiques Pretty Princess Puppy Purse, which had concentrations at 54,000 ppm; and Fast Forward New York’s Elmo Lunch Bag, at 72,000 ppm.

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