skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

New York Santas: Check The List Twice for Toy Safety

play audio
Play

Tuesday, November 24, 2009   

NEW YORK - Almost five million toys recalled this year, and yet the dangers are still lurking on toy shelves in New York as holiday shoppers fill their carts this week. This year's "10 Worst Toys" report from World Against Toys Causing Harm (WATCH) finds it's been an active year for toy recalls, with a lot of focus on lead and other toxic risks.

However, attorney James Swartz, who compiles the WATCH list each year, says the 2009 edition mostly involves strangulation, choking and projectile hazards for toys - some of them sold as "appropriate for all ages."

"The 'rugged mini' on the list and the 'mini babies in the bathtub' - these are things that are sold for babies. These small-parts hazards, or the puncture hazards, aren't evident when you look at the toy."

A Curious George counting book, X-Men action figure and a Disney rocket launcher also made the "worst toys" list, being published for the 37th time this year. Swartz says familiar names on toy packaging can mislead consumers who perceive those products to be safer. The Consumer Product Safety Commission recorded 10 deaths over the past two years of children who choked on toy parts.

Some toy companies have responded to the listing with updated safety information, and other toys listed in previous years have resulted in safety recalls.

Tracy Shelton, a consumer attorney with the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), says toy recalls are not all bad news.

"It's bad that they got manufactured and they got on the shelves in the first place, but the fact that they are being recalled is a good step in the right direction. Our toy reports have resulted in a lot of recalls and better legislation to regulate toys. "

Shelton says NYPIRG will issue its own annual report on statewide toy safety, "Trouble in Toyland," in the first week of December.

The full WATCH list is at toysafety.org.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021