List highlights unsafe toys still available

CHICAGO — A battery problem similar to the one that plagued hoverboards and ignited countless fires could affect other children’s toys that make their way under the Christmas tree this year.

“This is a newer trend in toy safety problems, with batteries and chargers that overheat,” said Abe Scarr, director of the Illinois Public Interest Research Group Education Fund. The consumer advocacy group released its 31st annual “Trouble in Toyland” report Tuesday, available at www.toysafetytips.org.

The report looked at 44 recalled toys, 16 of which are still available online and all of which could be lurking in play bins. There are toys with choking hazards such as pacifier attachments, playthings with dangerous chemicals such as lead, such as some miniature motorcycles, and trinkets with magnets that could cause severe damage if swallowed, such as an Avengers pencil case, according to the report.

Toys with overheating batteries and chargers were new to the list this year, said Scarr, holding a packaged hand-controlled hovercraft with a potentially dysfunctional USB charger.

“We need to protect our youngest consumers,” he said Tuesday at a Chicago news conference. “We should be able to trust that when we go out shopping for toys, they’re safe.”

But we’re not there yet, Scarr said.

Recall efforts

The group’s report called on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to make recalls more effective and to expand the definition of parts that may be a choking hazard.

Too often, recall efforts don’t go far enough, said Nancy Cowles, executive director of Kids in Danger.

Hoverboards are a success story, as far as recalls go, Cowles said. Although some of the problematic devices still remain available on the market, the fires sparked by lithium-ion batteries in hoverboards prompted certification companies such as UL to help develop regulations to fix the problem.