Finding Safe Christmas Toys

This holiday season is shaping up to be an exercise in a very different type of terror, as shoppers scramble to find safe Christmas toys. We know that Chinese toys are potentially unsafe, but only 20% of all toys are non-Chinese toys. That means that going through the store and checking them all can be an exercise in futility.

You can depend on toy manufacturers and retailers to help you, either; some have known about Chinese toy hazards for years, but chose to keep silent about the problem, not recalling dangerous toys and even continuing to sell lead-tainted toys they knew about. You are the last line of defense for your child's safety, and with the onslaught of recalls it sometimes seems like a hopeless task.

Still, there are simple ways you can find safe toys, and ensure that the toys you buy this year are both safe and wanted. Look for safe toy lists online, check every label, use your common sense, and follow the guidelines below for some tips on seeking out the best and safest toys.

1. Shop early. You aren't the only person who knows to look for American-made toys; the good toys are going to be gone quickly. The earlier you shop, the better your toy selection will be. If you wait til the last minute, all the safest toys will be gone.

2. Shop at small, local toy stores. While it seems that the large chains should know quickly which toys are safe, the truth is that smaller toys run by local owners are more personally interested in ensuring that YOUR child is safe from dangerous toys. Local proprietors are also more likely to sell locally-produced toys and American-made toys.

3. Look online - which means, again, shop early. The large chains and even the small local shops won't carry all the great American and European toys; instead, you'll find them online run individually. Look for the toys that are made in the United States or western Europe (some eastern European countries still have issues), with no parts coming from China.

4. Know the safe toys. Lego, for instance, is Danish; all its toys are made in Europe or Canada, and everything is safe. Most of Step2's toddler and small children's playsets are made in the United States. Mattel, as of right now, makes most Barbie dolls in America. Many, many more toys are perfectly safe. It's work, but you can choose safe toys by doing your homework.

5. Buy quality, not quantity. American-made toys are more expensive, and are often sold as more upscale toys. Check the label regardless of price.

6. Buy only new toys. Unfortunately, those nice toys at the consignment shop aren't necessarily safe; sometimes toys from old recalls slip through, and consignment store owners, though they try, can't weed out all the dangerous toys.

7. Be ready to spend more money than you were planning to. Toys made in Asia are cheap because the labor there is also cheap. American-made toys will cost much more.

8. Don't shop the really cheap stores, like the dollar stores. These stores thrive on the cheap Asian goods market, and nearly every toy they sell comes from China. Especially avoid the name-brand knockoffs like the Barbie-doll lookalikes. These name-brand clones are almost always of Chinese origin.

9. Not all cloth toys are safe. One of the lead recalls involves Boppy pillow covers, one of the hottest infant items today. Check each item individually.

10. Look for classic toys and flagship toy lines. No one is going to endanger their top toy, which is why Mattel's Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels are listed among the safe toys. The smaller and newer lines, like Polly Pocket, will be among the last toys screened and the first toys outsourced. Classic toys have been made the same way - long screened for safety - for decades, and are also much more likely to be safe.

11. Buy more video and computer games, books, movies, and other toys that don't involve a lot of hand contact or plastics. Buy more sports equipment, too, instead of looking in the toy department for everything.

12. Ask if your store has a listing of toys by country of origin at the customer service desk. Toys R Us offers this list for free to any customer who asks, though they don't advertise its availability, so that you can avoid toys that may be unsafe. (KB Toys, on the other hand, makes this information available to employees but not customers - and they carry more toys made in China than their competitor.) Look on websites for safety information as well; if they don't list a link on the front page, email their webmaster, or try adding /safety to the website URL.

13. If you can't avoid Chinese-made toys, pick up a home lead testing kit online. These kits are pretty reliable, provided the surface you're testing is easy to reach. Any amount of lead should be questioned; the legal limit is 600 ppm, but recent studies have shown even this very low level is associated with lower IQ scores in children.

14. Don't buy anything metal or with surface paint, like jewelry. These are the most likely to be contaminated with lead.

15. And just so you know, the most common toys associated with death in children are balloons, small balls (like superballs), and tricycles. Lead, while it is a brain poison, is not commonly a cause of death.

For your personal reference, here are a few useful websites:

Toys not made in China - not an exhaustive list, but a good one

Recalls for toys and other products

Another recall list, and a place to sign up for email notifications of new recalls

One of many places to purchase a lead testing kit