Science Toy Review

While the toy industry is fairly seasonal and toy recalls can dominate the media during the holiday peak season, it helps consumers to remember that recalls happen throughout the rest of the year as well. This is another instance of– if an organization is doing their job well, we rarely hear about it. For example, when the Consumer Product Safety Commission is doing their job well, unsafe toys don’t reach our stores’ shelves and there is no public outcry about an excessive number of recalls. Of course the CPSC should be commended for the greater good their public service provides.

Unfortunately, many of our politicians are claiming that the CPSC has been neglected by the current Bush administration. Last month (March 2008), the U.S. Senate took some admirable steps to correct this and voted overwhelmingly in favor of doubling the size of the CPSC’s staff and boosting their budget by almost $450 million over the next four years. CNN’s Lesa Jansen wrote an excellent piece on this legislation in March.

Other good news coming out of this bill is the agency is required to lower the limits on the acceptable amounts of lead paint in toys. The CPSC’s staff is currently about 400 strong and they will be adding an additional 500 staffers by 2013.

All this should bode well for the American consumer over the next couple of years. While it may seem to many that toys coming out of China are the biggest culprit when it comes to importing unsafe, lead-tainted toys, the reality is that there are a relatively small number of unsafe toys being imported. As the vast majority of our imported toys do indeed come from China, it is understandable that the majority of our recalled toys will be from there as well. Be aware though, that this doesn’t automatically label toys made in the U.S.A as being “safer.” The CPSC monitors the safety of all products, and again, when they do their job well, we likely never hear about it. Of course, an unsafe product harming any of our citizens is a tragedy, and it can be particularly devastating when the product is a toy and the citizen is one of our children.

The best advice for consumers may be to simply keep aware of what’s going on regarding recalls. The Consumer Product Safety Commission keeps a current list of all recalls available to anyone wanting to know. Do your research and you’ll find there are plenty of great options for purchasing safe toys. Check out Atomic Elephant Toy for their selection of safe, fun educational toys. And if you’re still trying to buy toys made somewhere other than China, their Quercetti Marble Run Roller Coasters are made in Italy and all of their DuneCraft terrariums and greenhouses are made here in the United States.