The U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) has released its latest report,
Trouble in Toyland: The 25th Annual Survey of Toy Safety. The report is something parents should look at as they rush out on Black Friday to gather bargains. What about if you are already at a store? How do you protect your children?
HealthyChoice.org has help for you. It's a
site with Flash widgets that show you both overall safety concern for products and lead only concern. That works for devices that support Flash (such as Android 2.2 devices), but for others, such as
iPhone and older versions of
Android, there is a
mobile site.
If you do not have a smartphone, you are not out of luck. You can SMS an inquiry, using a HealthyStuff.org keyword, followed by the name and/or brand of a product that you wish information on to the number 30644. You can also refine the query by adding the year the product was made (for example “toys 2009 barbie”). Lead check may not be available for some product types, the site adds.
Keywords |
Healthy Stuff Department |
Example(s) |
cars |
Cars |
cars ford focus |
clothes |
Apparel and Accessories |
clothes red wallet |
pets |
Pets |
pets tennis balls |
kids |
Children’s Products |
kids britax |
toys |
Toys |
toys fisher-price low |
This isn't just something you can do on Black Friday. You can use this service every day.