Indiana Product Liability Lawyers Recommend Resources for Safe Toxin-Free Toys this Holiday Season
It’s that time of the year when we have to make some very important decisions - buying the perfect holiday gift for the children in your life. Across Indiana, parents and relatives will begin looking for the perfect gift for their kids. Unfortunately, shopping for toys is not the easy hassle-free process it used to be. With 80 percent of toys sold in the US manufactured outside the country, and the revelation of lead content in several popular toys from Mattel and other companies, buying a toy is not just about how much a child will enjoy it, but also how safe it is.
As Indiana product liability lawyers and parents ourselves, we’re constantly looking for resources that can help parents make smart and informed choices while shopping for their kids. We came across this comprehensive safe shopping list on CNet News, which provides parents the tools they need to make a safe decision.
At the top of the list is, not surprisingly, the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The CPSC has come under fire from Indiana product liability lawyers and child safety advocates for its failure to crack down on companies selling defective and hazardous toys. However, the agency’s website is a terrific source of information for parents who want to know if the toys they are considering have been recalled for safety reasons. The website features information and pictures of recalled toys, which may continue to be available on store shelves and online stores for weeks after a recall is announced.
GoodGuide rates toys and several other consumer products for harmful chemicals including lead and mercury. The rating system ranges from green which is the safest rating, to red which indicates that the toy has high levels of lead and other chemicals, and should be avoided.
For those who prefer their toys 100 percent free of chemicals, GreenToys offers a wide range of 100 percent safe toys. .
HealthyStuff is a resource that allows buyers to look for products by name, brand or category and read reviews. Your can find health ratings for a large number of toys, helping you avoid those that have a high toxin content.
As Indiana product liability attorneys and parents, we are particularly impressed with MomsRising, an effective and efficient tool that allows parents to conveniently find out the chemical content level of a toy via cell phone. Simply send MomsRising a text message with the name of the toy, and you will receive a message with information about the chemical content of that particular toy. The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act made it harder for manufacturers, importers and distributors to shirk liability for defective toys by setting down strict lead content standards and imposing heavy penalties for violations. The law is still in its infancy, and we will have to wait to see if it really does help keep defective toys off the market.
In the meantime, these healthy toy resources will help you make safe and smart choices.
