If you are thinking of buying a teething toy for your baby then make sure you check whether the toy is safe for your child! Consumer groups in Hong Kong have discovered that several teether brands on the market are a suffocation risk to babies, which makesthem really dangerous.
Source: The Standard
According to The Standard, a Consumer Council report released on Feb 17th said that Edison Mama’s Kamikami Baby Banana teether and two other product models have been confiscated by Customs and Excise Department officers.
They tested 20 types of teethers and discovered that two of them – Ange’s Giraffe and Edison Mama’s Kamikami Baby Banana – did not have sufficient bite durability and did not follow the US code of federal regulations. Apparently, they tested the teethers with a simulator of a baby’s teeth and was shocked to find that the two teethers would break and could not withstand the simulated bite of a baby aged 18 months or younger. That’s bad!
Source: FJB
The Eddison Mama teether failed to meet European toy safety standards as parts of it were too small and count suffocate a baby if it got stuck in the child’s throat. Parents were cautioned against giving their babies these teethers. In response, Ange said that they had included a warning in their product manual asking parents not to give the teether to babies with teeth.
The manufacturer of Edison Mama said it will improve the design of its moulds to meet European toy safety standards. That’s not all, other teether brands contained eight times of the prescribed maximum limit of carcinogens. This was found in Nuvita’s Romeo Natural Massaging Teether 7020 which contained N-nitrosatable substances, which can convert to cancer-causing N-nitrosamines in the stomach. This is worrying since babies are supposed to gnaw the teethers.
Source: Lazada
Source: Quube
Another shocking find revealed that the hygienic safety level of liquids in seven teether products and some of them did not pass the test. One of them was the Clippasafe Water Filled Teether 34/6 Ice Cream which had a total aerobic microbial count of 30,000 colony-forming units per milliliter. This exceeded the prescribed limit of NB-Toys Recommendations under the European Toy Safety Directive by 339 times.
Among the bacteria found in the toy included Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa that can cause disease and sicknesses such as bacterial infection, gastroenteritis and fever. Although the liquids are sealed inside the teether, there was the possibility of leakage due to the aging of outer materials or product rupture, causing babies to accidentally consume it.
Source: Clippasafe
Nora Tam Fung-yee, chairwoman of research and testing at the Consumer Council advised parents to read product and safety manuals properly before using the teethers. “If they (the teethers) are put into boiling water, steamers or microwave ovens for sterilisation, then damage, rupture or deformation may result, causing leakage of filled liquid,” she added.
Manufacturers of Nuvita and Clippasafe said that they have recalled their products and Nuvita had confirmed they will replace their products with a new batch. The study was done after customs officers did a territory-wide spot check operation which saw them seizing 1,095 teethers.
Make sure to check your child’s toys before giving it to them!
Also read: Beware: Plastic Toys Found In Thailand Could Possibly Put Your Child’s Health At Risk!
