EcoWaste Coalition to Parents: Beware of Unsafe Toys Sold Outside Your Children’s Schools

With the start of the academic year 2025-2026, the EcoWaste Coalition again raised the persistent problem with unauthorized and unlabeled toys sold near school facilities, which may pose health and safety risks to young learners.

Unlike in previous years, the group bought assorted toys not from ambulant vendors or sari-sari stores located near schools but from their suppliers: the toy wholesalers in Binondo, Manila.

In test buys conducted on June 15 at the basement of Divisoria Mall, the group obtained samples of cheap toys that are sold for P65 to P220 per cardboard with 12 to 30 small play things attached. These toys are often resold to school children for as low as P5 per piece.

“Despite notification and safety labeling rules and requirements, we still find toys that are considered unfit for children due to potential chemical exposure, choking, and injury hazards,” said Aileen Lucero, National Coordinator, EcoWaste Coalition.  “Adults and kids need to keep safety in mind when buying toys.”

Among the toys purchased by the group from wholesalers and the potential hazards they pose to young children who are unaware of such dangers are the following:

1.  Plastic balloon blowing kits that pose benzene inhalation hazard.

2.  Key chain with Labubu toy laden with 1,856 parts per million (ppm) of lead, a potent neurotoxin and endocrine disrupting chemical.

3.  Transparent toy gun with light and three tiny button cell batteries, which can be accessed if the gun is broken posing choking and ingestion hazards, as well as causing internal chemical burns.

4.  Artificial nail sets with adhesive containing dibutyl phthalate (DBP), a reproductive and developmental toxicant banned in toys and cosmetics.

5.  Small magnets that children may accidentally swallow and get lodged in the digestive system, causing blockage, fissure and other problems in the intestines.

6.  Fidget spinners with small bearings, which can be detached and pose a risk of accidental ingestion or suffocation due to the obstruction of the airway.

7.  Toy balisongs (butterfly knives) with pointed parts that can cause abrasions and lacerations.

To safeguard young children from dangerous toys, the EcoWaste Coalition urged consumers, parents in particular, to go for authorized and duly labeled toys that have passed the quality and safety assessment by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The group further encouraged consumers to consider and apply these toy safety tips:

1. Choose age-suitable toys.  Check the recommended age on the product label and select the one that is appropriate to your child’s age, abilities, habits, and maturity level.

2. Pick toys that are durable and well-made.  A sturdily made toy will last longer and will be safe for parts that could break or fall apart with frequent use. Detached or shattered parts could injure or pose a choking hazard to a curious child.

3.  Shun small toys and those with small parts to reduce the risk of choking.  Marbles, tiny balls and toys with button cell batteries and small components pose a choking risk.  As a general rule, toys and toy parts should be bigger than a child’s mouth.

4.  Avoid toys with a cord longer than 12 inches to prevent strangulation incidents.  Toys with a cord or string longer than 12 inches can be deadly as it can wrap around the neck and asphyxiate a child.

5.  Go for injury-free toys.  Refrain from procuring toys that can injure a child’s ears, eyes, skin and body such as toys with pointed parts, sharp edges and those that can eject small objects such as toy pellet guns.

6.  Reject lead painted toys.  Refuse painted toys if there is no assurance that the paint used is safe from lead, a neurotoxin.  Lead paint has been banned in children’s toys to prevent childhood lead exposure that can result in intellectual impairment, mental retardation and behavioural problems, among other adverse effects.

7.  Avoid toys made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic. PVC plastic toys contain chemicals additives such as toxic phthalates that can leach out when a toy is chewed or sucked.

“Let’s keep these safety tips in mind before buying toys for our kids,” the EcoWaste Coalition emphasi