GoodGuide suggests Mister Squiggles, a single of the Zhu Zhu hamsters, has unsafe ranges of antimony.
Tale HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Distributor states toys are “totally compliant” with U.S. and European Union requirements
- Buyer watchdog team says Zhu Zhu Pets has unsafe ranges of antimony
- Substance can cause lung and heart problems with extended exposure, CDC suggests
- Toy’s producer says products and solutions are secure
(CNN) — The maker of Zhu Zhu hamsters, just one of the best-selling toys of the holiday season, defended its merchandise immediately after a customer World-wide-web web-site stated a single of the toy hamsters carries substantial amounts of a perhaps dangerous compound.
The light-brown model of the Zhu Zhu hamsters, “Mister Squiggles,” has unsafe ranges of antimony, in accordance to Dara O’Rourke, co-founder of the California-based GoodGuide.
“We discovered stages of about 93 to 106 parts for each million,” O’Rourke informed CNN. “The new federal normal is about 60 parts for every million.”
Antimony is utilized in textiles and plastics to protect against them from catching fire, according to the U.S. Department of Wellness and Human Services’ Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry. Prolonged exposure can result in lung and heart complications, ulcers and diarrhea, according to the U.S. Centers for Condition Command.
The toy company, St. Louis, Missouri-based mostly Cepia LLC, disputed GoodGuide’s results and said its goods are risk-free.
“All our products and solutions are subjected to numerous amounts of rigorous basic safety tests performed by our personal interior groups, as very well as the world’s leading independent quality assurance tests group, and also by unbiased labs engaged by our retail companions,” Russ Hornsby, CEO of Cepia, explained in a composed assertion. “The effects of each exam verify that our products are in compliance with all federal government and sector protection benchmarks.”
Bruce Katz, a senior vice president of Cepia, instructed CNN: “They do not contain superior stages of antimony in any way.”
“None of these assessments have failed around the many months we’ve been manufacturing this product,” Katz claimed.
The toys are common in Europe as very well as in the United States. Their British distributor, Character Possibilities, stated the goods, sold there as “Go Go Animals,” are “entirely compliant” with U.S. and European Union criteria.
“In addition, as aspect of Character Options’ conventional due diligence, the toy has been more analyzed on three different occasions by the firm’s very own protection gurus and discovered to fully comply with all EU expectations,” the company mentioned in a statement issued Sunday.
GoodGuide is a “for benefit organization” that associates with for-financial gain companies and addresses social and environmental complications, according to its World wide web site.
CNN’s Brendan Gage contributed to this report.
