Maribeth Guarino
High Value Health Care, Advocate, PIRG
High Value Health Care, Advocate, PIRG
OSPIRG Foundation
PORTLAND — OSPIRG Foundation’s Trouble in Toyland report has helped identify dangerous toys for 35 years. But 2020 is unique, and as Americans have worked, learned and played from home to protect themselves from COVID-19, children could be more susceptible to certain toy-related hazards.
“This has been an incredibly difficult year, and parents and caregivers are overwhelmed. They might do a quick search online for a toy to entertain their kids and trust that manufacturers and online vendors are guaranteeing their safety. This isn’t always the case, so parents need to be on guard,” said Maribeth Guarino, OSPIRG Foundation’s High Value Health Care Fellow.
Because of the pandemic, many parents are working from home while trying to keep kids of multiple ages busy with safe activities they can perform without supervision. This can be a daunting task. Our researchers found that many toys have hidden dangers or missing warning labels and playthings such as magnets, balloons and smaller toys can be deadly if they fall into younger children’s hands.
Here are some of the main categories from this year’s findings:
“The pandemic has led to more unsupervised play for children of all ages,” said Guarino. “Because of this, prevention is the best medicine! To protect your children, do your homework and make sure dangerous products don’t get into your house in the first place.”