MEDIA ADVISORY: Toy Safety Press Conference

Survey Finds Dangerous Toxic Toys on Store Shelves, Group Offers Tips and Interactive Tools to Help Consumers Shop Safely

Maryland PIRG

 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    

CONTACT:
Office: (410) 467-9389
Joanna Guy, Maryland PIRG (Baltimore Event)
Emily Scarr, Maryland PIRG (Annapolis Event)
Email: Emily Scarr
 
 
MEDIA ADVISORY – Press Conference
 
 
Survey Finds Dangerous and Toxic Toys on Store Shelves
Group Offers Tips and Interactive Tools to Help Consumers Shop Safely
 
 
What:       News conferences in Baltimore and Annapolis to release Maryland PIRG’s 28h annual Trouble in Toyland report and list of dangerous toys.  The report finds that despite improvements from recent product reforms, there are still dangerous toys on store shelves that pose a safety hazard.  Maryland PIRG will also publicize an online toy safety quiz parents and others can use to learn more about how to avoid dangerous toys this holiday season.
 
                  This year our report highlights toys that slipped through the cracks and contain high levels of lead, cadmium, and phthalates. We also found toys that pose choking hazards that lack the required labeling, and excessively loud toys that put a young child at risk for hearing damage.
 
Who:        Baltimore:
                  Congressman John Sarbanes, Maryland District 3
                  Dr. Clifford Mitchell, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
                  Dr. Oxiris Barbot, Commissioner of Health, Baltimore City Health Department
                  Dr. Dana Silver, Pediatrician, Herman & Walter Samuelson Children’s Hospital
                  Joanna Guy, Maryland PIRG Advocate
 
                  Annapolis:
Delegate Ariana Kelly
Delegate Jeff Waldstreicher
                  Deborah Wood, Ph.D.
                  Emily Scarr, Maryland PIRG Director
 
 
When:      Tuesday, November 26th
                  10:00 a.m.
 
Where:     Baltimore:
                  Herman & Walter Samuelson Children’s Hospital at Sinai Hospital
                  2401 W. Belvedere Ave.
                  Baltimore, Maryland 21215
 
                  The press conference will be held in the conference room of the Herman & Walter Samuelson Children’s Wing. Parking is in the front lot of Sinai Hospital. The Children’s Wing is a white building located in proximity to the Hospital        
                 
                  Annapolis:
                  Chesapeake Children’s Museum
                  25 Silopanna Road, Annapolis MD  21403
 
From West of Annapolis:
Take Route 50 east, use Exit 22, Aris. T. Allen Blvd. Stay on this (don’t get off at Riva Road) as it becomes Forest Drive. Turn left at the 4th traffic light, Hilltop Lane. Turn left at the first traffic light, Spa Road. Pass Gentry Court and Spindrift Way on your right. Take the next right, Silopanna Road. Look for the CCM sign on your left at the stop sign. Plenty of parking in the lot.
 
From East of Severn River:
Take Rowe Blvd Exit 24A(“Downtown Annapolis”) and pass the Naval Academy Stadium. Turn right at Taylor Ave. Go halfway around Westgate Circle and turn right onto Spa Road. Pass the entrance to Maryland Hall, pass the city’s Public Works garages. Take the next left, Silopanna Road. Look for the CCM sign on you left at the stop sign. Plenty of parking in the lot.
 
Excellent Visuals and Examples of Hazardous Toys
 
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Maryland PIRG, the Maryland Public Interest Research Group, is a non-profit, non-partisan public interest advocacy organization that takes on powerful interests on behalf of its members, working to win concrete results for our health and well-being.