WITH bored kids trapped at home for months, millions of parents have been scouring the web for children’s toys during the pandemic.
Popular websites like Amazon and eBay offer endless exciting new toys at the click of a mouse – but can you be sure they’re safe for your kids?
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The answer is NO, according to a shocking new report, which found 60 per cent of toys on online marketplaces could kill or seriously injure children.
They included products with small batteries that could burn a child’s insides, and toys with long cords that could strangle a toddler to death.
And a horrifying 86 per cent of toys tested from various marketplaces were illegal to sell in the UK, says the British Toy and Hobby Association (BTHA).
Though toys must be safe by law, there are no clear legal requirements for online marketplaces to check the safety of third-party sellers’ products.
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Only this month, a 10-year-old girl from Merseyside had to undergo life-saving surgery in hospital after swallowing 15 magnetic balls in her sleep.
The tiny balls, advertised as an “educational” toy by a third-party seller on Amazon, were reported to have fused together in the youngster’s intestines.
Even when unsafe toys are spotted and taken down by online platforms, the BTHA says seemingly identical ones crop up Whack-A-Mole-style.
With the Christmas season fast approaching and further lockdowns in place across the UK, the non-profit is now calling for urgent changes to the law to better protect children from dangerous toys sold by third-party vendors.
They want online marketplaces to be made to police the safety of products in their “shop windows”, and for the Online Harms Bill to include physical harm from defective toys sold on the web, among other changes.
Natasha Crookes, Director of Public Affairs for the BTHA, says: “Little or no action has been taken to make sustained changes that will protect children from unsafe toys.”
Here, Natasha talks The Sun through some of the biggest dangers unsafe toys pose to our kids:
Batteries that burn
Under toy regulations, small batteries must be kept away from kids.
You should only be able to open the battery compartment in a certain way or by the use of tools, meaning young children can’t access it.
And no batteries should be supplied loose in the toys.
Yet Natasha says: “The toys we found either had easy access to the batteries, supplied them loose or broke too easily under testing giving access to the batteries.
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“Coin cell batteries in particular can burn through the oesophagus (food pipe) in as little as 45 minutes if swallowed.”
Severe cases of burning can cause catastrophic internal bleeding, long-term damage and even death.
Long cords
Long cords on a toy may look appealing to a curious child.
But Natasha warns they can result in strangulation.
An array of tested toys – including a walking unicorn – were deemed to be unsafe because of their excessively long cords or ribbons.
Natasha says: “The length of cords and looped cords are restricted within the Toy Regulations. Some of these restrictions are based on age to ensure a small child cannot get material wrapped around their neck risking strangulation.”
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In 2016, toddler Bronwyn Taylor died after becoming tangled up in a window blind cord at her grandparents’ Stoke-on-Trent home.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) warns that long neck ties on children’s costumes can also prove fatal – something worth bearing in mind for Halloween.
Gut-fusing magnets
It’s a horrifying thought – yet little kids have actually had to have part of their colon removed after swallowing magnets from toys.
Usually, responsible firms will either design their magnetic toys to be low strength, or make their high-strength magnets inaccessible to children and over a certain size.
Yet Natasha says: “Worryingly we are finding more and more magnets on marketplaces that fail the strict regulations.
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“The toy rules changed 10 years ago to make sure these magnets could not be accessed.
“But the magnetic toys we found shattered easily, releasing the magnets and allowing them to be swallowed.
“If more than one is swallowed they join the folds of a child’s gut together.”
If left untreated, this would cause infection and possible death.
Dangerous projectiles
They’re often kids’ top pick for birthday presents and pocket money treats.
But unsafe toy guns can have devastating consequences.
Natasha explains: “Toys that fire projectiles must be designed so that the force and design of the projectile will not cause serious injury.
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“In addition the toy must only fire the projectiles supplied and it must not be easy to use other items to fire at children.
“We found a toy gun that fired hard projectiles with too much energy and enabled the use of other potentially more dangerous homemade projectiles.
“This could cause injuries to children and animals, particularly if they hit soft sensitive areas like the eyes where they can cause bleeding and blurred vision.”
Small parts
For toddlers and babies, small parts can pose a choking risk.
Natasha says: “We found a number of toys that failed due to small parts, either because they came with small parts and then were not labelled as not suitable for under threes or they broke easily on testing and then had small broken parts.
“This is a risk to the youngest children as babies and toddlers tend to put things in their mouths, which causes a risk of the child choking on the small, loose part.”
She adds that toys with small parts “should be clearly marked as not suitable for 0-3-year-olds and should not break easily.”
Products found to be unsafe due to small parts included a light-up teddy bear, an animal backpack and a bath toy.
Scorching electrical devices
They’re a popular item among teen girls.
But the investigation uncovered dangerous hair straighteners that became too hot near where youngsters were supposed to hold them.
If used, the straighteners risked burning the user’s hands or face. Because of this, they failed the electrical toy safety standard.
Natasha adds: “We also found electrical toys where the batteries become too hot.”
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Damaging chemicals
The chemical phthalate is used to make plastic soft and flexible – but it has been limited to 0.1 per cent in toys by the EU due to health fears.
However, the BTHA investigation found restricted phthalates in a number of toys – including a crawling doll set with accessories sold on eBay.
It also uncovered lead in products.
“These substances can cause long-term chronic conditions if children are exposed to them,” says Natasha.
Last year, a lightsaber toy was pulled off sale by Amazon after silver paint used on it was found to contain poisonous lead.
There were fears young kids – who absorb more lead than adults due to their growing bones and other organs – would put it in their mouths.
Lead poisoning can permanently affect a youngster’s development.
In extreme cases, it can cause convulsions and death.
Plastic bags
It’s a risk many parents wouldn’t think of.
The plastic bags that come with toys might not be as appealing to kids as the products themselves, but they can still end up suffocating them.
Natasha explains: “Plastic bags supplied with toys must be over a minimum thickness to ensure they do not draw onto a child’s face and suffocate them.
“We found many toys with over-thin bags which present a suffocation risk.”
One bath toy, deemed to be high risk, came with a 0.03mm plastic bag.
No safety or age warnings
Many of us rely on safety information and age warnings when it comes to picking out a toy that’s suitable for our child.
Yet Natasha says: “Safety standards specify the type and wording of warnings that are designed to protect children and advise parents.
“We found many toys that had missing or incorrectly applied warnings and many electrical toys with none of the specified warnings.”
Researchers also found a lack of addresses on products.
“An address is important because if something goes wrong the customer should be able to go back to the seller to report an accident, to potentially get access to compensation if a serious accident has happened, or simply so that the toy can be reported and removed so other parents don’t continue to buy an unsafe item,” adds Natasha.
Toys with sharp edges
Like knives, sharp edges or points on toys can cut and injure children.
Because of this, toys must be designed not to have them.
Yet Natasha says: “We have found toys that have failed this test and present sharp points and edges.”
A colourful children’s lock box – described as an educational “pre-school” toy – was found to have a sharp point on its keyring.
And a small handbag toy was also deemed to be dangerously sharp.
An Amazon spokesperson said: “Safety is important to Amazon and we want customers to shop with confidence on our stores.
“We have proactive measures in place to prevent suspicious or non-compliant products from being listed and we monitor the products sold in our stores for product safety concerns.
“When appropriate, we remove a product from the store, reach out to sellers, manufacturers, and government agencies for additional information, or take other actions.
“If customers have concerns about an item they’ve purchased, we encourage them to contact our Customer Service directly so we can investigate and take appropriate action.”
