Prompt Cast
The Importance of Toy Testing and the Evolution of Toy Safety Standards
TLDR Toy testing has become easier for kids to find jobs today compared to the past, and it plays a crucial role in ensuring the safety of toys. Toy safety standards are constantly changing and evolving, with organizations conducting tests to ensure that toys meet safety requirements.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
Toy testing can be fun for kids, but it's a lot of work for parents who have to pay attention, write reports, and take their kids out of their rooms to play.
04:32
Toy testing has become easier to find jobs for kids today compared to the past, where parents had to rely on someone contacting them or show up at headquarters to get their kids a job as a toy tester.
09:12
Toy testing became important in the 1960s when it was discovered that many toys were dangerous and could potentially harm or kill children.
14:14
In the 1960s, toy safety became a serious concern after a history of dangerous toys and flammable pajamas, leading to the passing of the flammable fabric act, but the chemicals used to make flame retardant clothing were linked to negative health effects, and today it is still difficult to find non-flame retardant pajamas for children.
19:14
Toy safety standards are constantly changing and evolving, with organizations like ASTM and InterTech conducting tests to ensure that toys meet safety requirements, such as burn rates and durability.
24:14
Toy testing involves standardized measurements and force to ensure that toys meet safety requirements, such as durability and weight limits, and organizations like the EU and ASTM have established comprehensive standards for toy safety.
29:02
There are various ways for kids to become toy testers, including sending their resume and a video of them playing with a toy directly to toy companies, starting a mommy blog, appearing on TV shows like Ellen, starting a YouTube channel, or becoming a subscriber to popular toy review channels on YouTube.
33:50
A couple in Florida is making over $20 million a year by uploading videos of themselves opening and playing with toys, with the woman doing most of the talking and the man remaining silent.
39:02
The podcast discusses recalled toys such as the Cabbage Patch Kid that could chew on fingers and hair, Laundarts that caused thousands of injuries and were banned, and the Atomic Energy Laboratory that contained real radioactive materials.
43:52
The Easy Bake Oven was banned due to design flaws that caused burns and a little girl had to undergo a partial finger amputation as a result.
48:51
FOIA requests are being used by special interest groups and activists to stall legitimate research by overwhelming researchers with large amounts of data to sift through or by cherry picking data to discredit unfavorable study results.
Categories:
Society & Culture
