Optometrist warns of toys that can blind

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CRETE, Ill., Dec. 17 (UPI) -- An Illinois optometrist says this year's items on his annual list of the 10 most dangerous Christmas toys to eyes are the most hazardous in 20 years.

Dr. Phillip L. Kaufman of Crete, Ill., has surveyed stores for harmful toys since 1977 and at the top of the 2010 Dangerous Christmas Toy List is a large, open-barrel toy crossbow for 12-year-olds, an uncontrollable "slice and dice" indoor toy helicopter for 8-year-olds and an airbrush tattoo applicator for 6-year-olds.

"The realistic crossbow, which comes in pink or black, fires toy ammunition 50 feet with enough force to impale an eye that could result in traumatic total blindness," Kaufman says in a statement.

"Especially dangerous are the 'slice and dice' toy helicopters -- Havoc Heli Helicopter -- because the remote fails to control the specific direction of the toy. The unprotected rotator blades swirl fast enough to slice the front of the eye to pieces."

Another great concern of Kaufman's is a pink BB gun marketed to children ages 10 and older when the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission explicitly states that BB guns should not be used by anyone younger than age 16, Kaufman says.

"Yet the manufacturer, Daisy Outdoor Products, has a large label on the BB gun packaging that this 3-foot rifle is for 10-year-olds," Kaufman says.

Kaufman's list includes Zone Tetra-Strike' Air Hogs Helix 360 Copter, Radical SKY Stunt Glider with Launcher, Air Zone Tetra-Strike, Air Hogs Helix 360 Copter, Radical SKY Stunt Glider with Launcher, Rubber Band Shooter and Patrol Helicopter.