Why do toys have weaker safety standards than other products?
Sign The Petition
Tiny ‘button batteries’ are in countless holiday toys, and if children swallow them, they can lead to serious injuries and death. Strong federal standards exist requiring most products to have secure battery compartments and warning labels, but strangely, they don’t apply to toys. And the association that represents toymakers in the U.S. argues that these stronger standards for toys simply aren’t necessary.
Consumer Reports evaluated 31 products – including 15 toys – that run on button batteries, and the results were alarming: a third of the products had dangerously accessible button batteries, and many more lacked clear warnings about the serious risks. Join us in calling on The Toy Association to support and follow stricter safety standards for all toy products, and let’s protect kids from these button batteries.
Petition to The Toy Association
Button cell batteries, commonly found in kids’ toys, pose safety risks that can lead to serious injuries and even death. A new evaluation by Consumer Reports of 31 products that run on button batteries found that in a third of the products the batteries were dangerously accessible, and many more lacked clear safety warnings. Some of these concerning products were toys marketed specifically for children and toddlers.
Although strong federal standards exist that require products to have secure battery compartments and warning labels, they currently don’t apply to toys. We call on The Toy Association to support raising the existing toy requirements up to the same strong standard that applies to all other products. Doing so will offer the greatest protection to our kids and prevent exposure to these dangerous batteries.