The craze for fidget spinners is somewhat dying down but there was a time when literally every second person could be seen spinning one on his fingers. According to the Europen Union, they pose a health risk, as described in a report by the European Commission.
The product was on the European Commission’s RAPEX rapid alert system, used by member states’ governments to identify and remove dangerous products from the market. According to the commission, fidget spinners come fitted with battery-powered LED lights and children can easily access the batteries and swallow them.
We don’t have to explain what a fidget spinner looks like as we are all well aware of the toys. European Commission’s RAPEX- Rapid Alert System pointed out 11 models of fidget spinners in 2017 as not complying with the EU toy safety rules and they were taken off the market.
The EU Commission has specifically identified the light-up fidget spinners that contain button batteries which can be easily removed.“If the batteries in these fidget spinners are swallowed, they can cause burns to esophagusgus and intestines. A number of concerns have been raised due to accidents involving small children, who have either swallowed broken parts of the toy or ingested button batteries.Consequently, dangerous fidget spinners have been tracked down, stopped at borders and ports, or destroyed.”
There are still people defending the toys claiming that fidget spinners help relieve stress and reduced anxiety. A report is published by the commission every year on dangerous products that need to be banned or withdrawn. More often than not, the list contains toys with small parts that young children can choke on.
This year 21% of the products withdrawn were toys and imports from China are normally on the list of dangerous items. In 2017, 53% of the identified products came from China and Hong Kong and 26% of them were of UK origin. It was revealed that some astronauts also smuggled fidget spinners onto the International Space Station (ISS) for fun.
They don’t function the same way as they do on Earth. In space, it floats around and continues spinning without losing speed. It has been explained that “allowing the fidget spinner to float reduces the bearing friction by permitting the rate of the central ring and outer spinner to equalize, and the whole thing spins as a unit.”
The next time your kid wants to buy a fidget spinner, make sure it is one without the LED lights.