Report Examines Toxic, Hazardous Toys

Los Angeles (myFOXla.com) - Despite a ban on toys with small parts, there are many toys still on the market that pose serious choking hazards to children, while other toys still contain dangerous levels of lead, according to a report released today.

To help parents avoid dangerous toys, the California Public Interest Research Group announced that it has established an online database at www.toysafety.net that allows shoppers to determine whether certain toys could be dangerous.

"Now parents can shop safely and avoid purchasing potentially dangerous toys for their kids," said CALPIRG advocate Michael Russo. "And with our new, interactive tool, parents and other consumers can report toys they think are hazardous so we can investigate them and report them to the federal government."

According to CALPIRG's "Trouble in Toyland" report, some progress has been made on toy safety in the past year, thanks primarily to a law mandating changes in the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

"But there's no magic wand to fix the CPSC, and making products safer won't happen overnight," Russo said. "Restoring consumer confidence in the products we buy will take continued hard work on the part of the CPSC and responsible retailers and manufacturers."

The report found that despite a ban on small parts in toys for children under 3, many toys still present choking hazards, with at least 196 children choking to death on a toy part between 1990 and 2008. Three died in 2008 alone.

According to CALPIRG, some other toys also exceeded 85 decibels, which is the volume threshold established by the American Society for Testing and Materials to prevent damaging children's hearing.

The report also found that despite restrictions on lead, researchers found many lead-laced toys on store shelves, including a preschool book that was eventually pulled from the shelves at Toys R Us locations.