Survey: Nearly 40% of Toys Have Flashing Lights, Long-term Use Harms Children's Eyesight
Children's early education machines and children's educational toys are deeply loved by parents and children because they can both tell stories and sing. However, a recent news that a little girl damaged her cornea due to playing with a flashing early education machine shocked parents. Yesterday, a reporter's investigation found that there are indeed many flashing toys sold on the market, and they are even more popular online. This is a type of toy loved by preschool children. Some parents even found that nearly 40% of the toys at home are flashing. Ophthalmology experts said that staring at the flash of a toy for a long time can easily damage the eyes.
Parents take inventory of toys 40% are flashing
A lady's daughter is one and a half years old this year, and she has quite a lot of toys usually. Yesterday, she made a rough count of the toys at home and found that among the more than 20 toys currently at home, 15 have light, and nearly 8 of them can flash. She told reporters that the toys children like to play with usually are those with sound and light.
Yesterday morning, the reporter conducted a visit and investigation at a children's toy market near Jiluo Road, and found that there are indeed many luminous toys, accounting for more than 40% of the total number of toys approximately. The sales of early education machines are even more popular online. A reporter's search found that a 39-yuan early education machine in animal shape has sold more than 10,000 units accumulatively. Among them, the "seven-color ear lights" is one of the publicity highlights of this early education machine. Another high-sales early education machine product not only has luminous ears, but also the number keys in the middle will glow. However, the shop owner said that all products are marked with "using LED colored lights, which does not harm eyesight".
The reporter checked the newly revised national standard for toy safety, which will be implemented on January 1 next year, and found that the standard does not mention the light requirements for toys. In another safety standard specifically for electric toys, it only involves performance in terms of electrical strength, moisture resistance, heat resistance, flame resistance and other aspects, and there is no requirement for light either.
Preschool age is a period of eye development Flashing toys are easy to damage eyes
A female reporter checked the materials and found that in recent years, multiple incidents of children's visual impairment caused by luminous products have been exposed in the media. In 2014, a lady found that her 4-year-old son often squinted when looking at things. A check in the hospital found that the boy had myopia. According to the analysis of medical staff, the culprit that caused the child's pseudomyopia was actually a flashing toy.
Chen Lizhong, vice president of Shandong Liangkang Ophthalmology Hospital, told reporters that at present, the hospital has not received children with eye damage caused by playing with flashing toys, but she admitted that flashing toys do cause harm to children's eyes. "The light of light-emitting toys at night is relatively strong, which can easily cause damage to children's eyes, especially flashing toys, which keep blinking constantly. Staring at them for a long time will cause visual fatigue, blurred eye imaging, and even symptoms such as dry eyes and red blood streaks." She said that preschool children are in the period of eye development, and some adverse effects will affect their subsequent eye development. In addition, she said that parents must pay attention to guiding their children's eye habits, do not arrange too many eye-using learning activities for preschool children, and increase outdoor activities.