Zhu Zhu Pets are safe! Update at post #10.

[macandmadisnana]

Group Contends popular Zhu Zhu Pets toys unsafe

Saturday, December 5, 2009

 

By The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A consumer group contends one of the holiday season's must-have toys is unsafe.

 

San Francisco-based GoodGuide named the robotic Zhu Zhu Pets hamsters on Saturday as one of the top-selling toys with low ratings. It says it found a higher-than-allowed level of a chemical called antimony, which can cause health problems.

 

The group assigned the toy a rating of 5.2 on a 10-point scale.

 

GoodGuide CEO Dara O'Rourke says in a news release that the toy industry has done a lot to improve safety. But he adds some toys are "slipping through the cracks."

 

The toy's maker, St. Louis-based Cepia LLC, insists in a statement that its product is safe and has passed rigorous testing.

 

 

 

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All right reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

[brainfreeze]

Yeah, look at that. They found it on the brown one Mr squiggles. Does that mean the others are safe?

 

The company could refute this as much as they like, nobody is going to let their kid play with Mr Squiggles. I wouldn't. I don't like the way they flatly refused to accept the possibility. The responsible thing would be to at least say they are taking this very seriously and are looking into it.

 

Hopefully they will keep testing. Stuff made in China these days is so unpredictable. Hopefully it is isolated to the one Hamster.

 

I've got a closet full of the stuff but only one hamster and he's the white one. Not sure what I am going to do. Anybody else have an opinion on this?

Edited December 7, 2009 by brainfreeze
typo

[Blue*]

Now I'm thinking wether I should return all of them and get my money back. Am I overreacting? Edited December 7, 2009 by Blue*
writting

[tn20]

From what I heard, Cepia has requested all their testing information because their own tests did not show this. I, personally, would not jump the gun and return your Zhu Zhu pets... I would wait and see what comes of this in the coming weeks. There will be people on all sides jumping on this to see what the issue is, if anything.

 

And for what its worth, I don't have any Zhu Zhu pets and I'm not looking for them either (2 boys with no interest in them), so I'm not defending Cepia or anything because I don't want to admit there may be a problem.

 

I just think that if this is as serious as it is being made out to be, then either Cepia or the government will be doing something about it pretty quickly.

 

I think that some of these "watch dog" groups can be a little overzealous sometimes and push things on people. Like when visiting California, there are these signs on EVERYTHING that say something like "WARNING: This product contains materials that are known to the state of California to cause cancer and birth defects." It was even posted on a toilet in a rest area. Weird, random things that for some reason are harmful in California, but no where else, apparently.

[niccci]

The concern is the Antimony apparently. Here is what it says about Antimony:

Antimony is used in many different contexts in industry, including some medicines, lead-free solders, bullets, batteries, plumbing, and matches. It has been used in a naturally occurring form for thousands of years, primarily as a medicine, as small amounts can kill certain parasites without compromising the health of the recipient. Antimony in a compound form also has impressive flame-retarding properties, and as a result is used to treat such things as seat covers, toys, and children’s clothing.

 

I certainly wouldnt let babies play with them.... everything goes in their mouths. Probably not wise to get them wet and I guess it wouldnt hurt to have your kiddies wash their hands after playing with them if they have a tendency to put their hands in their mouths... but I dont think this is something you should panic about YET anyways!!! Besides, I have said all along, the parents are the ones that made these so popular and they will only entertain our little ones for a couple of days then its not going to be a problem cause they will be in a toy box somewhere forgotten by New Years DAy!!! JUST mho!

[AudreyNicole]

I received this email last night from Cepia:

 

Cepia LLC News Update

 

Toxicity Accusations are False

12.05.09

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Greetings!

 

False accusations have been made again Zhu Zhu Pets products, namely, Mr. Squiggles. We have responded to these accusations, and now want to reassure you--our valued Zhu Zhu Pets fans--that our products not only meet, but exceed all safety testing.

 

To see our official response, please click the following link:

 

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/manufacturer-of-zhu-zhu-pets-confirms-safety-of-mr-squiggles-toy-and-offers-validation-of-testing-protocol-78604627.html

 

At this time, we want to thank you for your continued support of Zhu Zhu Pets. As a family-owned business, we understand the utmost importance of safety and protecting your children--this is why we always test our products to the most rigorous standards.

 

From our family to yours, we want to thank you for your loyalty to Zhu Zhu Pets.

 

 

I am not going to panic just yet. If it comes to be that there really is a cause for concern, I will return the hamster in question, but at this point, I tried too hard to find everything, and I'd hate to return them unnecessarily and then have to race to find them again before Christmas.

[noehlp]

I suggest to everyone who's bought a Zhu Zhu to either tape your receipts to your ZhuZhu's or put them all in a safe file to hang on to for the next few weeks/months/or so.

Hopefully it is all hype and nothing serious.

[Marcster]

I suggest to everyone who's bought a Zhu Zhu to either tape your receipts to your ZhuZhu's or put them all in a safe file to hang on to for the next few weeks/months/or so.

Hopefully it is all hype and nothing serious.

What about the people who paid four times the retail price by buying on eBay?

 

--------

 

Oh, and there is another thread about this topic going on in the Lounge: http://forums.gottadeal.com/showthread.php?t=161323

 

Normally I close duplicate threads, but since this is a possible public health issue I am OK with two threads on the same subject in different sections of GD.

[crispymom]

Our local news stations did a report on this and said issued a statement saying that the Zhu Zhu Pets ARE SAFE!

HTH

[kimpooh19]

GoodGuide is retracting it's statement. The hampsters can stay!

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091208/ap_on_bi_ge/us_zhu_zhu_pets_investigation