The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Check before you buy that toy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 24, 2007
ePaper

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Check before you buy that toy

Staff Reporter

Bangalore: Earlier this month, Mattel of USA recalled as many as 967,000 toys when it was found that these items had high levels of lead. So heavy were the losses that the Chinese manufacturer Zhang Shuhong ended his life in a warehouse.

Toys are fun, and even considered an essential part of a child’s development. But they do not always make for harmless babysitters; they can pose health hazards, and must be certified for use, believe the members of Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a product-safety testing and certification organisation that aims to increase awareness among the public about these toxic hazards.

There are millions of toys in the market, hundreds of new ones hit the stores each year, and 75 per cent of India’s toys are imported from China. Each year, scores of kids are treated for injuries related to toys. One cannot ignore the dangers that they pose, says R.A. Venkitachalam, General Manager and Managing Director, UL India.

“With a large variety of major brands of toys entering the Indian market, the instinct is to buy toys that are cheap. But people forget to look for the certification mark guarantying the product’s safety,” he says.

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