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Despite stronger safety standards and more inspections of toys being imported into the country, many hazardous toys are still finding their ways onto store shelves, according to a public advocacy group.

Just before Black Friday, the New Mexico Public Interest Research Group (NMPIRG) Education Fund released its 26th annual “Trouble in Toyland” report.

In a conference at MountainView Medical Annex Tuesday, Nov. 22, Rashi Mangalick of NMPIRG presented examples of toys bought from stores in the state that have toxins, could cause choking or harm hearing.

In some cases, Mangalick said, the manufacturers skirt around the edges of standards. She held up a small plastic cylinder used by inspectors to see if toy parts are a choking hazard. She dropped in a small plastic dinosaur that easily fit inside the tube, but its tail stuck out the end. Mangalick said that meant the toy met the standards, but was not safe for young children to play with.

A better standard that parents could use when they shop, Mangalick said, is to take an old toilet paper roll, which is a little wider than the official standard. Parents concerned about choking hazards should simply not buy toys that fit inside the toilet paper roll, she said.

Choking remains the most significant toy-related hazard to children, Mangalick said. According to NMPIRG, more than 200 children died between 1990 and 2009 from choking on toys or toy parts.

Mangalick said that although the federal government tight­ened standards on the chemicals used in toys, there are still toys making it to market that contain toxins, such as high lev­els of lead in gold play medals. She also displayed a soft plastic funny nose and glasses that she said contained high levels of phthalates, chemicals used in some plastics and believed to be detrimental to a child’s developmental progress.

Joining Mangalick was pediatrician Dr. Timothy Herndon, who said he was surprised to see that lead remained a hazard in toys. If a child is showing signs of possible lead poisoning, doctors are more prone to blame it on poor living conditions in which children are exposed to old lead paint.

In 2008, Congress placed strict limits on concentrations of lead and phthalates in toys and children articles in a law that also gave greater authority and funding to the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the CPSC has a new data­base of both potential hazards and recalled products at www.saferproducts.gov.

But many of the toys being cited in the NMPIRG report aren’t on that list. An example of a toy that exceeds noise stan­dards recommended by the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders was an Elmo toy cell phone made by Fisher Price, a reputable U.S. toy manufacturer.

Before parents shop for toys, Mangalick recommended they visit NMPIRG’s interactive website with tips for safe toy shop­ping – which consumers can access on their smart phones – at www.toysafety.mobi. The website’s Toy Tips explain the most common toy hazards and offers a mobile app.

The full NMPIRG “Trouble in Toyland” report can also be found online at www.nmpirg.org/report.

“Parents and toy givers need to remember that while the CPSC is doing a good job, it doesn’t test all toys on the shelves,” Mangalick said. “Consumers should also remember that toys that are not on our list of examples could also pose hazards.”