Tennessee Parents Should Beware Toxic Toys
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December 3, 2009
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee parents are getting some help to avoid 'trouble in toyland.' The U.S. Public Interest Research Group (USPIRG) has tested thousands of toys for possible choking hazards, eardrum-damaging noise levels, and toxics and made the database available to shoppers.
Randall Kinnard, a Nashville attorney and past-president of the Tennessee Association for Justice, says, while lead paint has been the issue getting big media coverage lately, children are being harmed by toys in other ways, too.
"I've had several claims including buttons that come off toys that weren't secured. Also, toys that look safe, but after a child gets into them, they find out the toys are actually dangerous weapons."
When presented with a case, USPIRG's investigation can take months and it could be another 12 to 18 months before it reaches a jury trial, which is why prevention is the best "cure" to keep kids healthy, adds Kinnard.
"If it's determined that the toy was manufactured recklessly, there are laws in Tennessee that allow a parent to pursue a claim on behalf of an injured child."
Recent Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) data finds toy-related injuries sent more than 80,000 children under the age of five to emergency rooms in 2007. 18 children died from toy-related injuries that year, the latest year with data available.
The 24th-annual Trouble in Toyland report is available at www.website www.uspirg.org.