Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, August 10th, title: "Internet celebrity" toys frequently hurt people, "carrying baby artifact" or "pitting baby weapon"?
Xinhua News Agency "China Cyber Affairs" reporter Wang Xiaojie Mao Yizhu
Buck balls, water guns, elastic soft-shaft ping pong balls...This summer, the "net celebrity" toys that have become popular on social networking platforms have become the new favorites of many children playing at home. Although they are well-known and have many buyers, some "net celebrity" toys are actually shoddy "three no products". The reporter found many safety hazards in the investigation.
"Internet celebrity" toy injuries occurred in many places
A wire-like flexible shaft, one end is inserted into the base and the other end is inserted into the small hole at the bottom of the ping-pong ball, about 1 meter long. In this way, the ball can swing back and forth with the rhythm of the child's swing, without having to pick up the ball. This elastic soft-shaft ping-pong ball, known to prevent myopia, is regarded by many parents as an "artifact with a baby", but it may actually hurt children's eyes.
In March of this year, a more than 1 year old patient received by Jing Junjie, deputy chief physician of neurosurgery at the 90th Hospital of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Joint Service Support Force, was injured by a flexible shaft, which was inserted above his left eye socket. , Has been poked into the skull.
"Fortunately, the flexible shaft did not poke the eyeball, and the patient recovered well. Intracranial hemorrhage, but the effect is not significant. If the soft shaft is stuck in the eyeball, vision will be affected." Jing Junjie said.
The reporter bought an elastic soft table tennis ball on the e-commerce platform, which the merchant described as a "children's self-training artifact". The reporter found that the ping pong ball could easily fall off the flexible shaft, and the thin and hard flexible shaft could easily hurt people.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg in the case of "net celebrity" toys hurting people.
This summer, Yang Min, deputy director of the Department of Pediatrics of the Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, received a lot of small patients who swallowed a buck ball by mistake, and received 3 cases in the most one day.
The buck ball has a diameter of about 5 mm and has a magnetic force. It can spell out various shapes and is called "educational toys" by merchants. But this toy is easy to be swallowed by children, causing injury.
"The cases are mainly young children, the youngest is less than 1 year old, and the oldest is 10 years old." Yang Min said that out of curiosity, most children swallowed buck balls in batches. One child even swallowed 26. The small ball has a strong magnetic force and will pass through the body tissue to attract each other, and the child cannot expel it normally. Some small balls reach the stomach and can be taken out through a gastroscope, and some stick to the intestinal wall, causing intestinal perforation, requiring surgery.
In addition, "net celebrity" toys such as water bomb guns and crystal mud also have potential hazards. The official website of the Defective Products Management Center of the State Administration for Market Regulation has issued a number of tips on toys, including "net celebrity" balloons, crystal mud, water bomb guns, etc. According to the prompts, the “net celebrity” balloons equipped with batteries that emit light can deflagrate once they come into contact with high-temperature heat sources or open flames; the kinetic energy of the water bomb gun ejection is too large, it is easy to injure the body, and the water bomb is easily eaten by children; crystal mud boron The element content is too high, prolonged contact or accidental ingestion may cause personal injury.
The three major chaos of "net celebrity" toys
Why do some "net celebrity" toys frequently hurt people? The reporter's investigation found that most of these toys are shoddy and there are many problems in terms of quality and sales.
First of all, the quality is not enough, it is the "three no products". The reporter purchased several "net celebrity" toys from the e-commerce platform, including buck ball, water bomb gun, and elastic flexible table tennis ball. None of these toys have any certificates, and they are "three noes" products. The water gun and elastic soft-shaft table tennis ball do not even have installation and operating instructions. Consumers need to ask the e-commerce customer service for installation and use videos. The product standard on the shell of the water bullet gun is marked as GBT26701-2011, which is a general technical requirement for model products, not a toy standard.
Second, the product is not marked with the applicable age, and there is no risk warning. According to the latest revision of my country's National Toy Safety Technical Code in 2014, toys must be marked with the applicable age and reminded of related risks. Toys that may be dangerous to children under 36 months should be accompanied by warnings. The elastic soft-shaft table tennis ball and water gun purchased by the reporter did not even have manuals and no relevant information.
Third, there are loopholes in the e-commerce sales link. The reporter found that both the Buckball and children's drones indicated that the applicable age is over 14 years old in the product manuals, and also indicated the potential risks, but the above information was not attached to the e-commerce sales page. The reporter checked the sales pages of other "net celebrity" toys such as luminous balloons and crystal mud on the e-commerce platform, but did not find any tips about age and potential risks.
According to Qiu Baochang, a lawyer of Beijing Huijia Law Firm, according to the "E-Commerce Law of the People's Republic of China", e-commerce platform operators have not fulfilled their obligation to review the qualifications of the operators on the platform for goods or services that are related to consumers' lives and health. , Or failing to fulfill the duty of safety guarantee to consumers and causing harm to consumers shall bear corresponding responsibilities according to law.
Experts call for strengthening e-commerce supervision and suggest parents to keep their eyes open
How to regulate the development of the "net celebrity" toy market and reduce the occurrence of injuries? The experts made the following suggestions.
First, strengthen the supervision of e-commerce sales. Liang Mei, president of the China Toys and Baby Products Association, said that China has formed a relatively sound system for the supervision of offline shops, and relevant departments will conduct random inspections on a regular basis. However, there are still regulatory problems in the online e-commerce market. The problem of being in place requires relevant departments to implement regulatory responsibilities to ensure that toys sold online are of qualified quality, labeling compliance, and safety risk warnings, so as to promote the healthy development of the toy market and ensure the safety of children.
Second, call on toy manufacturers to pay attention to product quality and strictly implement the "toy safety" series of national standards. Liang Mei said that according to this series of standards, toys must meet the standards in terms of mechanical and physical properties, flammability and chemical properties. Liang Mei urged that the majority of toy manufacturers should abide by national standards, avoid fluke, and avoid harming children.
Third, parents should choose carefully when buying toys. The Beijing Consumers Association reminded that consumers should pay attention to the label and quality when purchasing children’s toys. The product should have a name, model, standard number, age range, safety warning, safe use method, name and address of the manufacturer, etc. Mark, do not buy "three noes" products; at the same time, parents should pay attention to whether there are sharp points, edges and protrusions on hard toys that may stab or scratch children’s skin. Toys such as soft rattles, squeeze toys, and teethers cannot be completely inserted into children's mouths even in the maximum compression state to ensure safety.
Yang Min summarized the precautions for buying toys as "appropriate age, non-toxic materials, avoid swallowing, and round edges." "Parents should keep their eyes open while buying toys, but they should also strengthen their care to avoid injuries to their children."