Consumer Protection Embargoes, Recalls Four Toys

That Pose Hazards For Children

HARTFORD — Consumer Protection Commissioner Edwin R. Rodriguez this week alerted consumers to four different toy products that pose choking, suffocation, or lead poison hazards for children.

“The department’s product safety inspectors visit more than 300 stores each year with the specific intent of evaluating the toys and items sold for use by children. While I am pleased to report that this year we have found fewer hazardous items, even one is too many. We are quickly removing these items from sale, and alerting the public to avoid giving these items to children,” Mr Rodriguez said.

The toys were found at Target, Walgreen’s, and Ocean State Job Lot. More than 600 items have been embargoed thus far, and the investigation continues.

The embargoed and recalled items include:

*Plush baby rattle, animal characters, sold at Target stores for $1 in special “Dollar Section” at entrance to store. Manufactured by Double Nice Co., Ltd, China: Aspiration hazard; small beads stitched on as eyes; No age labeling; rattles are intended for children under 3

*Disney Pixar Monsters Inc Boo character doll sold at Ocean State Job Lot stores for 99 cents in stuffed animal displays. Manufactured by Accessory Network Group, New York: Aspiration hazard; small beads stitched on as eyes; Incorrect labeling; labeled for over 3; DCP graded it for under 3 based on appeal for babies and children under 3

*First Learning Construction Train Set sold at Ocean State Job Lot stores for $9.99. Manufactured by First Learning Company Ltd, Hong Kong: Lead content in yellow and green blocks significantly exceeds safe limits; 18 months+

*Ten-piece peg wooden farm scene puzzle sold at Walgreen’s, Brookfleld. Manufactured by Leap Year publishing, LLC, Methuen, Mass.: Choking on small part; incorrect labeling, labeled for over 3; DCP graded it for under 3 based on construction and appeal for babies and children under 3

“We are taking immediate action to get these unsafe products out of stores, and inspectors are checking to learn whether these same items are offered for sale by other store chains,” Mr Rodriguez said.

“While the vast majority of manufacturers and retailers of children’s items are extremely conscientious about the safety of their products, occasionally potentially unsafe items make it to store shelves,” Mr Rodriguez said. “Parents and other adults buying toys and items for infants and children must always be aware of potential hazards.

“In the case of these toys, the tiny bead eyes that were sewn on with thread pose a real danger because children love to pull beads off and put them in their ears, nose, and mouth. The puzzle had two pieces that could easily lodge in a child’s throat and cause choking,” he added. “Although the label indicated that the puzzle was for children older than 3, puzzles made with little peg handles on the pieces fit the Product Safety Commission’s standard for children younger than 3.”

Items that are known to contain lead are never appropriate for children, and it is impossible by looking at a product to identify if lead is present, Rodriguez said.

“That is why we commonly test suspected items for lead, and when our suspicions are confirmed, as in the case with the train set, we immediately remove them from store shelves,” Mr Rodriguez said. “As always, we will be turning these items over to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, which may choose to issue a national recall.”

Shoppers who have already bought these items should immediately return them to the store where they were purchased for a full refund.