Finger ring toys pose danger to kids, watchdog group warns

The tiny batteries used to power these toys should be stored in secure compartments not accessible to kids. | ECOWASTE COALITION

The Ecowaste Coalition on Wednesday urged parents and guardians to keep finger glow rings away from children to avoid the ingestion of hazardous tiny cell batteries.

Based on its monitoring, the watchdog group said that a wholesale pack containing 30 pieces of China-made flashing finger toy rings is usually resold by retailers for just P10 each, often outside schools.

“Young children may play with unsecured button cell batteries and accidentally put them in the mouth and pose choking and ingestion hazards and internal chemical burns, particularly in the digestive tract,” it said, adding that kids could also put the tiny batteries inside their nose and ears.

Unauthorized China-made Flashing Finger Ring toy with unsecured button cell batteries. –ECOWASTE COALITION

The 5-millimeter batteries are “not securely fastened,” the group noted, and could therefore pose health hazards to a child especially when unsupervised.

The ingestion of button cell batteries was among the top 10 causes of poisoning among children last year, according to the National Poison Management and Control Center at the Philippine General Hospital.

The group said it would alert the Food and Drug Administration to flag the trendy toy as its counterpart regulatory agencies in the United States and Australia have already done.

Just last Aug. 1, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission ordered the recall of more than 4,000 units of jelly ring toys.