The advocacy group found several recalled toys were available from online retailers this year, all of which pose hazards to youngsters, VPIRG staffers said.
Those toys had a variety of defects leading to their recall, including lead content, choking hazards and the possibility of ignition.
By law those products are supposed to have been pulled from retailers’ shelves, a VPIRG report states, as are other products recalled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
The commission recalled more than 40 toys and children’s products between January 2015 and last month, affecting more than 35 million individual units, the report said.
But U.S. Public Interest Research Group staffers were able to find 16 of those products for sale from online retailers, said VPIRG consumer protection advocate Falko Schilling.
The Tuesday event coincided with the organization’s 31st annual report on potentially dangerous toys.
Kasper’s organization and VPIRG plan to push legislators to bolster that law next year by updating the list of suspect chemicals and ensuring the information is available to consumers.
An example of a potentially dangerous item sat at the VPIRG office in Montpelier on Tuesday, and it bore the name “Elf on a Shelf.” The toy’s fabric contains a possible human carcinogen, Schilling said. The manufacturer has not reported which chemical it contains. Elf on a Shelf has not been recalled or banned and is available for purchase.
Another toy, a Christmas stocking bearing the likeness of a popular movie character, contains 10 chemicals “of high concern,” including carcinogens and endocrine disruptors, Schilling said. His organization had purchased one of those online this year.
Corrections: Elf on a Shelf has not been recalled or banned. Shaina Kasper’s name was spelled incorrectly in an earlier version of this story.
