illustrates André Bdois
edition Felipe van Deursen
FOURTH AND LAST PART OF THE ARTICLE KILLER TOYS
– cursed dolls
– Deadly Games
– cursed parks
– Dangerous toys
LEGAL AND ILLEGAL
Today they are banned or frowned upon. Yesterday they were cheap
deadly dust
The CSI Crime Lab kit, based on the police series, allowed children to don gloves and collect evidence. In 2007, fingerprint dust was found to be infected with 7% asbestos, enough to cause poisoning and lung cancer. In 2010, he left the market
bombastic
In the 1960s, for $6, you could buy the Gilbert Kaster science kit. With it, children could not only manipulate molten metal but also experiment with 56 chemicals, such as uranium. I taught until make bombs! Due to high levels of radiation, it went out of circulation
worthy of witchcraft
Would you buy your 2-year-old daughter a toy called Evil Stick? The “stick of evil” was purchased by an American mother who was shocked to see a picture of a woman slitting her wrists on the product. Upon complaining to the store, she heard that the Evil Stick was for ages 5+. Ah, so it is!
little surprise
Tell this to that friend who wants to move to Miami: in the USA, the sale of Kinder Eggs is prohibited. In 1997, the FDA, the body that controls food and medicine there, confiscated all toy chocolates in order to avoid asphyxiation deaths. Anyone caught with an egg is charged with smuggling and pays a $300 fine.
stoned
Aqua Dots have balls that, immersed in water, come together to form figures. In 2007, the product’s glue was made with 1.4 butanediol, a cheaper substance than the one originally used. The problem is that, when ingested, it turns into a drug. «good night cinderela». Product recall generated $1.3 million in damages
inflatable hazard
In April 2015, in Paraná, an inflatable slide overturned and threw a 9-year-old girl against a glass door. She had bleeding and did not resist the cuts. The police are investigating whether there was a leak in the toy, as there was no wind in the area.
predator on the loose
In 2011, specialists in animal life and police officers participated, in a helicopter with a thermal sensor, in a tiger capture in England. But they discovered that the feline was just a life-size stuffed animal. The episode did not cause any tragedy, but it interrupted a cricket game and nearly stopped traffic on a major highway.
stodgy fad
In 2007, the giant Mattel announced a worldwide recall of Polly dolls, in a recall that caused a loss of US$ 420 million. The models had two small magnets applied to dresses, which served to stick them to the body. These little pieces sometimes got loose and the children swallowed them. The recall announcement came a year after three children had a perforated intestine.
Clogged
Gel capsules that, placed in water, took the shape of little animals were successful in the 90s. The problem occurred when a child thought that the toy was sweet. When ingested, the gel grew with the body’s own fluids, clogs the intestine and could cause vomiting, dehydration and even coma. In 2011 and 2012, nine children ingested it, and two died.
steel teeth
Popular in the 1980s, the Snacktime doll had a motorized mouth that made her bite plastic pieces. So much innovation just spoiled. Many children trapped fingers and hair between their jaws. The worst thing is that there was no button to turn it off, and the doll would only stop tangling and pulling her hair if they took her batteries out. In 1997, it went off the market.
deadly glare
Laser pens seem harmless, but in 2011 alone, they disrupted at least 250 flights in Brazil. The green laser is very powerful – it can reach the cabin of an airplane at a height of 400 m. In addition to impairing the pilots’ eyesight, the joke causes everything from corneal edema to permanent injury in the retina
Read also: Would an astronaut on the moon see a laser pen pointed at him?
Why, kites
In Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, a 5-year-old boy got tangled in a giant kite and was dragged for 20 m before plummeting to his death. The tragedy was recorded by cell phone cameras. See here (warning: images are strong)
homemade missile
In the late 1990s, the company Sin Master launched a toy rocket, with a water and pressure mechanism that took off. But it was a dangerous and aggressive system, which injured at least 37 children. The product has been withdrawn from stores
flight to death
In 2013, a young man from New York was headless by the toy helicopter itself, in a model airplane park in the city. The propellers hit him in the head after he lost control of the aircraft in a maneuver at around 50 km/h
Unecological
Typical of the 60s and star of a recent film, a Paddington bear caused the death of 2,500 trout on a farm in Milforf, USA. The Department of Game and Fisheries said the toy fell into the fish farm and clogged the drainage system, causing the mass suffocation
REAL DANGERS
Every year, children in Brazil and around the world are injured and killed in toy accidents.
CLICK THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT
– 73 thousand hospitalizations occur per year in Brazil due to accidents with toys
– 11% (2010-15) was the increase in hospitalizations of children due to toy accidents
– 14.7% of toys released per year cause accidents
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CLICK THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT
CLICK THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT
READ TOO
– What were the most bizarre circus accidents in history?
– What was the biggest nuclear accident in history?
– What are the deadliest sports out there?
CONSULTANCY Coordination Center of the Department of Child and Adolescent Safety of the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics (SBP), National Network Early Childhood and Safe Child Foundations and Inmetro Institute
SOURCES Brazilian Association of Technical Standards (ABNT), Ministry of Health, University of Minnesota, US Consumer Product Safety Commission (cpsc.gov); book Safe Children and Adolescents, by the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics