New Jersey parents may want to be especially vigilant while doing their holiday shopping this year. On Nov. 26, authorities reported that several popular children’s toys may potentially be dangerous for children. Reportedly, the New York State Division of Consumer Protection, or DCP, found the toys to contain lead or sharp edges.
Several toys, including the necklace in the Princess Expressions Accessory Kit and the Disney Frozen Musical Watch, contained an amount of lead that exceeded the federal standard allowed in children’s products. For example, tests concluded that the necklace contained 140 ppm of lead, which is more than the federal limit for accessible parts, 100 ppm. Other popular items, including the Tough Treadz Auto Carrier, were found to be unsafe for use by children as well. Several of the cars that come with the carrier reportedly have sharp edges that could cause injuries to a young child playing with the toy.
Authorities recommend that people who purchased the toys should keep them out of reach of children. Retailers that carry the affected toys were also requested to remove those toys from their shelves.
Manufacturers of defective or faulty products that might cause people injury or even death may be held liable in civil court. For example, if a child were to suffer an injury that was caused by an inherently dangerous or defective toy, the child’s representatives may be eligible to file a products liability claim against the manufacturer of the problematic toy. If the lawsuit were to prevail, the claimants may receive considerable compensation for their damages.
Source Consumer Product Safety Commission, “Total Lead Content,” 12/3/2014
Source: WBNG, “Cuomo warns shoppers of potentially dangerous children’s toys”, Kerry Longobucco, November 26, 2014