With the coming of the Mid-Autumn Festival, a spokesman for the Customs and Excise Department today (September 15) reminded parents and guardians about the potential hazards of festive toys and products such as battery-operated toy lanterns and light sticks when selecting such toys and products for children.
"In 2004, the Department received two complaints about suspected unsafe toy lanterns, conducted 112 spot checks on various retailers supplying battery-operated toy lanterns and light sticks with samples purchased for safety test," the spokesman said. As a result, one person was prosecuted for supplying unsafe toy lanterns and 11 toy suppliers were served with written warnings for supplying unsafe toy lanterns and light sticks under the Toys and Children's Product Safety Ordinance/Regulation.
"The major non-compliance of these samples were that they did not carry the required instructions on safe battery usage, such as 'Do not mix old and new batteries' and 'Do not mix alkaline, standard (carbon-zinc), or rechargeable (nickel-cadmium) batteries'. The battery compartment was not marked to show the correct battery polarity and voltage.
"Some samples were also found without the required identification markings on the packaging - the name and address of the local manufacturer, importer or supplier. The potential hazards posed by these non-compliant battery-operated toy lanterns and light sticks included injuries like burns to body caused by battery overheating or leakage.
"In addition, common hazards of these festive toys also include choking on swallowing batteries or small loose parts; and laceration or puncture caused by exposed sharp edges or pointed projections. Continuous bending of light sticks may cause leakage of chemical contents. Hence, risks of injury are likely to be associated with irritation on skin or eyes," he said.
So far in 2005, the Department has received one complaint about suspected unsafe battery-operated toy lanterns. The Department recently conducted 103 spot checks on various retailers supplying, battery-operated toy lanterns and light sticks. Eleven models of battery-operated toy lanterns and nine models of light sticks were sent to the Government Laboratory for safety tests for compliance with the prescribed toys safety standards under the Toys and Children's Products Safety Ordinance as well as the requirements of bilingual safety warning and identification marking for toys under the Toys and Children's Products Safety Regulation.
"Of the 11 tested samples of battery-operated toy lanterns and nine light sticks, six light sticks passed the relevant prescribed safety standards," the spokesman said. However, 10 lanterns did not carry the required instructions on safe battery usage such as "Do not mix old and new batteries" and "Do not mix alkaline, standard (carbon-zinc), or rechargeable (nickel-cadmium) batteries". The battery compartment was also not marked to show the correct battery polarity and voltage. In addition, one lantern and three light sticks were found without the requisite producer's markings as specified in the prescribed safety standards.
"Moreover, of the 20 tested samples, 10 lanterns and eight light sticks were found without the identification markings, that is, the name and address of the local manufacturer, importer, or the supplier, on the packaging." the spokesman added.
Customs will initiate investigations into the suppliers concerned. The Department will prosecute and serve written warnings to those companies and retailers for supplying unsafe battery-operated toy lanterns and light sticks to protect consumers' interests.
Among the 11 tested samples of battery-operated toy lanterns, four were musical. The Government Laboratory confirmed that these samples of battery-operated toy lanterns, which had sound-producing features, were found to have complied with the requirement of the peak emission sound pressure level prescribed in the current European Standard for toys that emit continuous sound.
Despite this, parents are advised to be cautious when their children were playing these musical toys. Tips to guard against potential risks are as follows:
Ends/Thursday, September 15, 2005