Keeping Kids Safe From Home Falls

A home may represent a haven of safety and security. But for young children, it can be also a minefield of potentially dangerous falls. The following tips from the National Safety Council will help make your home free of fall hazards.

Falls from furniture

• Don't leave babies alone on beds, changing tables, or sofas.
• Always strap children into highchairs and strollers.

Falls from heights

• Don't let children play alone on fire escapes, high porches or balconies.

Slips and falls from floor surfaces

• Secure area rugs. Especially on wood, ceramic tile or linoleum floors, area rugs can cause anyone to slip up. Secure them with a piece of foam carpet backing, double-sided tape or a rubber pad, available at many carpet and department stores.

Falls on the stairs

• Keep stairs clear. Kids must spend as much time running up and down stairs as they do going in and out the back door. As it is, stairs figure in a large percentage of home falls. Combine a child's boundless, yet reckless, energy with a staircase full of junk, and you could end up taking an emergency trip to the hospital.
• Use safety gates if there are infants and toddlers in your home. At the top of the stairs, attach the gate to a wall. Avoid accordion gates with large openings—a child's neck can get trapped.

Window falls

• Be aware of the danger of falls from windows by unsupervised young children. Keep your windows closed and locked when children are around. When opening windows for ventilation, open windows that a child cannot reach.
• Set and enforce rules about keeping children's play away from windows or patio doors. Falling through the glass can be fatal or cause serious injury.
• Keep furniture—or anything children can climb—away from windows. Children may use such objects as a climbing aid.
• Never depend on an insect screen to keep your child from falling out of the window. Screens are intended to keep insects out, not children in.
• Unguarded windows opened only five inches pose a danger to children under ten. In some cities, landlords are required by law to place window guards in apartments where children live; such guards prevent windows from being opened wide enough for a child to crawl through. Be sure to check with your local fire department and building code official to make sure guards or security bars comply with all applicable requirements.

In the bathroom

• Always use a rubber mat or slip resistant stickers in the tub. Never leave a child unattended in the tub. Should they slip and fall, they may be unable to cry for help.

Dangers that are obvious to adults are not necessarily that apparent to children. They need extra guidance and an ever-vigilant eye. By following these simple suggestions, you help make your home a safer and more secure place for everyone.

Courtesy of NSC.org

Toy Traders Face Trouble

24 December 2007
DOHA - Several retailers here say that they were not able to meet the festival demand for children's toys due to the restrictions imposed by the government recently on the import and sale of toys.

Following reports about tainted Chinese days flooding the international market, the Qatari authorities had imposed strict regulations to ensure the quality of toys being sold in the country.

Enquiries with toy shops yesterday revealed that many popular varieties are short in supply and most retailers have been relying on old stocks.

Sales manager of a leading toys shop in the city told The Peninsula that their business had been hit hard by the new regulations.

"We are selling mostly toys from Italy, Spain and the US and we have enough stocks in our store. But we are not able sell them due to some new restrictions imposed by the government," he lamented.

He said, every importer has to produce a quality certificate to the authorities concerned to get permission for sale of the imported toys. This certificate is to be issued by a UK-based agency.

"The authorities here will accept only the originals of the certificate. For an original certificate, the manufacturers are charging us $35 for each item (each type of toys) in the consignment. Calculated together, this will become a huge amount, not to speak about the delay in procuring the certificate. In the absence of this certificate we are not able to sell the new stocks we have imported in the past two months," he said.

"Our customers are mostly nationals and Europeans and there is a good demand for the toys during the holidays. But we are not able to provide many popular items. The authorities have been saying that they are planning to conduct the quality tests in Qatar but we don't know when this will materialise," he added.

An official from a leading hypermarket, which has an exclusive toys section, said they had also been facing problems in getting new stocks.

" We are getting toys from Dubai as well as from local importers. However, new stocks are rarely coming these days and we are mostly relying on old stocks," he said.

Traders say that demand for toys normally go up during the festival seasons, from nationals as well as residents.

© The Peninsula 2007

Another worry: vinyl PVC plastics in children's toys

Following a report that vinyl PVC plastics in children's products posed a health risk, Sears Holdings has announced that it will join other retail giants Target, WalMart and Microsoft in phasing out the plastic that's widely used in toys and packaging.

Sears Holdings includes 3,800 Sears and KMart stores in North America. It said that in addition to phasing out PVCs, it has set a long-term goal of sourcing materials that are easier to recycle or compost.

PVC plastics cover a wide variety of products and packaging, familiar to customers as the soft, flexible material in bathtub and other toys and also the hard, clear material used in packaging — and universally cursed as the stuff that's difficult to open.

Environmental and consumer organizations have condemned PVC for years, pointing to the toxins in chemicals blended into the plastic to make it suitable for varied uses. The presence of so many compounds in PVC formulations makes the plastic difficult to recycle, and burning it in incinerators poses health risks as contaminants are released into the atmosphere.

Last week, a Minneapolis advocacy group, Healthy Legacy, announced that 70 percent of some 1,200 toys that it and the Science and Environmental Health Network had tested showed elevated levels of lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic and other known toxins. Half of the tested toys were made of specially formulated PVC plastics.

The health problems come from plasticizers used in PVC plastics to make the material pliable, as in the "squirt" bathtub toys and other soft products that tots tend to chew.

Vinyl PVC is used in myriad other products, including shower curtains, car interiors, containers at fast-food restaurants, and the clingy wrap around supermarket meats. It's also used in piping for plumbing.

Consumers accustomed to recycling plastics can identify PVC by the "3" inside the recycle symbol. It's advised to keep the material out of the recycle bin because toxins in PVCs that are ground in the recycling process can contaminate other plastics.

Toxins in toys are much more common than suggested by media attention to lead in toys produced in China. Advocates say branded toys produced in the United States and other countries are also suspect.

There are healthy alternatives. For those wanting to be super safe in what they give children as playthings, the advisable choice is toys made of unfinished wood.

Children�s Toys Recalled by Dollar Tree Stores Due to Violation of Lead Paint Standard

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Baby Toys Baby Bead & Wire Toys and Speed Racer Pull Back & Go Action! Cars

Units: About 300,000

Importer: Greenbrier International Inc., of Chesapeake, Va.

Hazard: The recalled toys contain excessive levels of lead, violating the federal lead paint standard.

Incidents/Injuries: None reported.

Description: The Baby Bead & Wire Toys are colored wires and colored beads that can slide on a natural wood platform. These bead toys have item number 903419 and date code 71 printed on the back of the packaging. The Speed Racer Pull Back & Go Action! Cars are yellow with black stripes and white with red stripes. Item number 873820 and date code 77 is printed on the back of the packaging.

Sold at: Dollar Tree, Dollar Bill$, Dollar Express, Greenbacks, Only One $1 and Deal$ stores nationwide from March 2007 through October 2007 (Baby Bead & Wire Toys) and from September 2007 through November 2007 (Speed Racer Cars) for $1.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should immediately take these toys away from children and return to the store where purchased for a refund.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Dollar Tree Stores at (800) 876-8077 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit the firm�s Web site at www.dollartree.com

Note: CPSC was alerted to this hazard by the State of Connecticut�s Department of Consumer Protection.

Lead, PVC found in children's toys

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (UPI) -- Michigan's Ecology Center announced Tuesday the results of safety tests performed on 22 children's toys, including a Fisher Price toy found to contain lead.

The center, which performed the tests alongside the Washington Toxics Coalition, used an X-Ray Fluorescence analyzer to test the toys for chemicals including lead, cadmium, arsenic and chlorine, the Ecology Center and Washington Toxics Coalition reported Tuesday on HealthyToys.org.

The tests found a plastic cuff sold with the Fisher Price Medical Kit contains more than five times the amount of lead paint required for a recall. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan had the items pulled from Illinois shelves but the toy is still sold in other parts of the United States.

The Web site also said 13 of the 22 toys tested, including American Girl Dolls and Lincoln Logs, were found to be made with PVC plastic, which may contain phthalates. The chemicals have been linked to birth defects of the genitals and altered reproductive hormone levels in infant boys.



Copyright 2007 by United Press International

This news arrived on: 12/18/2007

US Made Childrens Toys

Tips for Buying American Made Toys

1. Shop Early. Lots of parents are looking for these toys. No last minute shopping. This means now.

2. Shop local independent retailers. Big box retailers don't have the time or interest in stocking many of these kinds of toys. You do. So do the smaller toy shops in your local community selling smarter, more creative toys like these.

3. Check out online resources: Let your fingers do the walking across the keyboard to start your search for these toys.

4. Be prepared to pay more. There's a reason those other toys are so cheap. These are made by Americans earning fair wages. Your solution: buy fewer, better quality toys.

Even choosing US-made toys, there's no panacea. No absolute guarantee. Parents still have to monitor their kids' toys and any toy can potentially be a danger. But at least with these toys, the chance that they've been dipped in poison paint or laced with a date rape drug by an unknown manufacturing subcontractor thousands of miles away is vastly reduced and unlikely. The key: do your own research. If you're unsure, call the manufacturer. Ask questions. Our kids are too important to take any chances.