The full list of dangerous toys

The number of deadly toys found on sale in Britain doubled last year as the increasing volume of Chinese imports brought an influx of games and gifts with the potential to poison, suffocate or choke.

Trusted brands such as Mattel and Ladybird, and retailers such as Argos, were forced to withdraw products deemed to put children at serious risk.

China’s booming export trade was the source of half of all potentially lethal goods found in European shops in 2006. And for the first time toys were ahead of dangerous electrical items for the type of products taken off the shelves, according to a European Commission report published today.

The dangers were highlighted by one Chinese-made toy marketed by Mattel and sold in Argos that left three children needing hospital operations to remove magnets that they had swallowed. Polly Pocket magnetic playsets were the subject of 170 complaints in Britain before they was withdrawn.

Stefano Soro, a European Commission consumer goods expert, said: “The three children swallowed more than one magnet and suffered intestinal perforations that required surgery after the magnets found each other and stuck together in their gut.”

He added: “A quarter of all product alerts [in the EU] were about toys, including toys found to have heavy metals in them.”

He gave the example of a lead bracelet given out with Reebok shoes. It was withdrawn in Europe after it fatally poisoned a child in the US.

Other examples of unsafe toys reported in Britain included a Ladybird book published by Penguin. The Baby Touch Busy Book, made in China, had to be withdrawn because its “activity panel” included a cylinder that broke off when the book was dropped, revealing pins that could choke children.

A Fisher Price/Mattel Laugh and Learn bunny from China was banned because its nose came off too easily and posed a risk of choking to small children. A multiplay gym, again made in China, was withdrawn by Argos after complaints that children had suffered injuries such as cuts, grazes and sprained wrists.

Cuddly toys found across Europe proved to have hidden dangers. One design of teddy bear seized in Finland and thought to have been sold in other EU countries had fur that came off so easily that it could choke small children.

Meglena Kuneva, the EU Consumer Protection Commissioner, said: “You might find a cute teddy bear in a shop or receive it as a gift, but is it safe? Are there small pieces that can be detached and swallowed by a child or toxic substances that cause irritation?”

Half of the lethal toys were deemed to put children at serious risk of choking or suffocation, a fifth posed a danger of physical injury and almost a tenth were made with toxic chemicals.

The report, Keeping European Consumers Safe, shows that 92 products carrying a serious risk were reported in Britain last year, more than double the total of 43 the previous year. Overall, the number of products withdrawn across the EU rose from 388 in 2004 to 924 last year.

Ms Kuneva insisted that, despite the growth in dangerous toys and other products, the EU remained “one of the safest marketplaces in the world”.

A Department of Trade and Industry spokesman said: “If you buy a product and believe it is unsafe, you should contact trading standards officers.”

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