Concern over toy safety widens

Yo balls, the novelty toys that have become the craze for children in countries around Europe have already been banned in Britain, Italy, Switzerland, France and Sweden because of the risk of strangulation.

A number of other countries are looking into the matter. German officials have warned that the yo balls may cause strangulation and moreover might contain toxic substances.

Maltese authorities have been monitoring the situation although until late yesterday no official statement was published.

The Consumer and Competition Division is expected to issue a statement as a "precautionary measure" on the use of yo balls. The CCD, the Malta Standards Authority and the Market Surveillance Unit have been looking into the effects of these toys to verify where the hazard lies and to see if the materials used are toxic.

The CCD will base its advice on the findings of these bodies and will continue to research these toys.

The Market Surveillance Directorate at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Services was alerted to the risk by the British Trade and Industry Department.

The yo balls are made in China but carry CE marks which means they comply with EU safety requirements. But in spite of this, the British Trade and Industry Department concluded that the toys failed to meet the safety requirements of the Toys (Safety) Regulations 1995.

This is the first time in the last 10 years that the BTI department has banned a toy.

Sources said that even though toys comply with EU safety measures, they could present a hazard when used.

Italian prosecutors, acting on complaints from consumer groups, noted that the toy "contravenes the most elementary safety regulations".

The toys which sell for £1 each in Britain are selling for Lm1 here. The balls are made from coloured flexible rubber-like plastic, covered in spikes.

The ball is attached to a short piece of rubber which stretches up to almost two metres with use.

Although the yo ball swings like the traditional yo-yo, children tend to grip the end of the cord and swing the ball around their bodies, and at times round their necks - potentially choking them.

A report compiled by the Child Accident Prevention Trust of the UK pointed out that the toy was a "strangulation hazard".

The CAPT's advice is that if a child owns a yo ball, parents are to cut the strap off the ball and then throw the ball and strap away.

A Maltese mother of two, Joanna Corser, said her daughter Ella, five, and son Nicholas, eight, each had one of the toys but now she had heard about the possible danger posed by the yo balls she would be throwing them away.

"It did cross my mind that the toys could strangle a child once the rubber strap wraps tightly round the neck but I did not give it a second thought until I read the report on the ban in yesterday's The Times.

"It's a cool toy and the latest craze after beyblades but if yo balls are dangerous I would not want to see them in my children's hands," Ms Corser said.

Cecilia Naudi, a mother of four, said her two elder children had each bought one out of their own pocket money. One of the yo balls contained a miniature plastic skeleton in a substance similar to gel and another held a plastic spider.

Some balls contain glitter in the liquid and children are fascinated as they squeeze the balls to see what is inside.

Although Ms Naudi's children swing the ball round their stomachs, she did not think the toy presented any particular danger.

"I say this, perhaps, because my children are nine and 11 and aware of such a hazard while the two younger children are not much interested in the toy," she said.

The Yo Yo Water Ball, a brand available in a number of toy shops and stationers here, bears the legend 'Safety Sport Ball" but at the back of the packing is a warning reading: "Choking hazard. Small parts. Not for children under six years."