Its hunting season

Let me be very clear, I have a great deal of respect for many NGO’s and other groups who push for toy safety or any kind of safety. They keep the toy industry on its toes and do a genuine service to the industry and the public.

What I don’t like is what I call hunting season; this time of the year when some of these groups post their lists of dangerous toys and issue dire warnings. I understand that they need to raise money and this is one way to do it. It’s just that some of them tend to go overboard.

For example, take the article “Toys Continue to Contain Dangerous Chemicals” which I found in the December, 2009 Living Science. Here is a quote from the article:

Some of the products found to contain dangerous levels of lead and/or other chemicals included: Barbie Bike Flair Accessory Kit, Dora the Explorer Activity Tote, Kids Poncho from WalMart, MSY Shoes by Faded Glory, Reversible Croco Belt by Cherokee and The Kids Source Magenta/Orange Open-toed shoes.

These were the only dangerous “toys” mentioned in the article but none of them are actually toys. There is a bicycle accessory kit, a tote, a poncho, shoes and a belt. Where are the toys?

So what gives? Probably that it gets you headlines when you talk about toys and not when you talk about clothes or shoes. It’s just not as scary.

I hate hunting season.