A Boston-based child safety group is releasing its annual holiday list of the ten most hazardous toys.
World Against Toys Causing Harm, or W.A.T.C.H., unveiled its list Tuesday at a children's hospital in Boston.
The nonprofit organization has been releasing the lists for more than four decades to remind consumers of potential toy hazards ahead of the holiday shopping season.
W.A.T.C.H. says this year's list will focus on toys with small parts that can present choking hazards, toys with inconsistent and inadequate warnings and common hazards that continue to reappear year after year in toys.
"Unable to find product defects on the market as a result of these strict U.S. toy standards and test requirements, W.A.T.C.H. tends to focus on products with safety instructions and warnings, as if responsibly providing safety information to consumers is somehow an indication that a product cannot be safe for use or for sale, when the opposite is true," the Toy Association said in a statement released Tuesday. "Each year, we find these lists by W.A.T.C.H. to be needlessly frightening to parents; each year these allegations do not stand up to scrutiny when reviewed by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Safety issues are not uncovered by the group’s “gotcha” reporting. But W.A.T.C.H. keeps at it for the media attention it brings to their organization at this time of year."
W.A.T.C.H. says there have been at least 15 toy recalls since last December. Earlier this year, the organization called out fidget spinners, the wildly popular, twirling gadgets that are banned in many schools.
Included on this year's top 10:
- Hallmark "Itty Bitty's Baby Stacking Toy for a potential choking injury
- Pull Along Pony for potential strangulation and entanglement injuries
- Wonder Woman Battle Action Sword for potential blunt force injuries
- Hand Fidgetz Spinners for potential choking injuries
- Spider-Man Spider-Drone Official Movie Edition for potential eye and body impact injuries
- Nerf Zombie Strike Deadbolt Crossbow for potential eye injuries
- Slackers Slackline Classic Series Kit for potential strangulation and fall-related injuries
- Oval Xylophone for potential ingestion and choking injuries
- Jetts Heel Wheels for potential blunt impact and fire related burn injuries
- Brianna Babydoll for potential choking injuries
Cox Media Group National Content Desk contributed to this report.
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