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Strategies & Market Trends : Anthony @ Equity Investigations, Dear Anthony, -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: who cares? who wrote (63520)	11/26/2000 7:53:10 PM
From: StockDung	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 122087

Scooters, Balloons Are Potentially Dangerous, US Group Says Washington, Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. toy manufacturers should post warning labels on retail Web sites and should market potentially dangerous toys -- such as scooters and balloons -- more carefully, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group said. The nonprofit group in its annual toy safety report admonished parents to make children on scooters wear helmets and knee pads, and keep them off uneven surfaces and out of the street. There have been 26,000 injuries and two deaths -- one of an adult -- related to the popular scooters, the group said, citing the Consumer Product Safety Commission. ``Parents should treat scooters like they would a bicycle,'' said Rachel Weintraub, staff attorney for U.S. PIRG and the author of the report. Children under the age of 3 probably shouldn't ride them, she said. Razor USA LLC predicts it will have sold 5 million of its scooters by the end of 2000. They're manufactured by Taiwan-based JD Corp., and then distributed by Cerritos, California-based Razor through retailers such as Sharper Image Corp. Online retail mall BizRate.com said earlier this month that a survey found the Razor scooter to be the most desired toy for the season. Less trendy items -- such as balloons and marbles -- pose choking hazards, the report said. Weintraub criticized manufacturers for marketing balloons to small children, citing latex balloons with ``Winnie the Pooh'' characters on them. Needless Alarm An industry group said holiday toy warnings needlessly alarm consumers who already know they should use common sense. ``Toys are not baby sitters -- they don't take the place of parental supervision,'' said Pam Johnston, a spokeswoman for the Toy Manufacturers of America, an industry group representing 250 of the largest toy companies in the U.S. Forks are far more dangerous than most toys, she said. The report said many toys with small parts intended for older children appeal to younger ones. Such toys include The First Years Inc.'s squeakie playbook -- listed by the report because it contains phthalates, a plastic softening agent that may leach out when chewed on. The European Union banned the chemical in teething rings in 1998. Johnston said there is no credible research to suggest it's not safe in most toys. The group also criticized retail Web sites that fail to post hazard labels next to toys. Federal laws requiring warning labels to indicate potential choking hazards and other risks on toy packaging don't apply to Web site postings. ``Congress and the CPSC should support proposals to make hazard labels mandatory on the Internet,'' Weintraub said. Johnston said manufacturers who are members of her organization do generally post such warnings on the Internet. Nov/21/2000 15:24 ET For more stories from Bloomberg News, click here. (C) Copyright 2000 Bloomberg L.P.