Use Your Cell Phone To Learn Which Toys Are Toxic

With so many toys to choose from these days many parents say it's hard to keep track of which toys are safe or unsafe for their kids.

Momsrising.org and healthytoys.org have compiled information on 1,500 popular toys and if you're out shopping, you can find out about the safety of that item right over your cell phone.

Shopping for toys has never been easy for Jill Hall. She has four kids, and not only does she have to find what they like she has to make sure the toys she buys are safe.

"Clearly safety for my kids is a #1 priority and in looking at different toys and their issues as far as lead based paints and other toxins, there's not any available source for me to look at in terms of finding an object and know its going to be safe if my son or my children put it in their mouth," Hall said.

With so many toys on the market these days parents say it's hard to distinguish which ones are safe.

"Last year we ended up buying a few gifts that were recalled so it was kind of hard to take them away from them but we took me lot of time we buy books instead," said Jessica Cook, a parent.

A new text messaging system can tell parents whether the toys they're choosing contain toxic chemicals.

"It's great sometimes parents they need to be more informative for me having a three year old son..want to know what toys are out there that could be toxic for him what to buy this christmas season," said Theresa Keele.

Take an Elmo doll for example. You'd send the words: "healthytoys Elmo" to 41411. You'll find an Elmo 13 inch doll by sesame street has low levels of toxins.

Or try Care Bears text "healthytoys Care Bears" to 41-411 and find the Heartsong bear by Care Bears to have low levels of toxins.

Some parents say they'll have to try it on their next shopping trip.

"I would use it just to see what toys are out there that are good for my children, what toys have toxic lead pointing for them...thats a big big concern," said Keele.

Shoppers can also find ratings for products while they're in the store by texting "healthytoys low {name of store}.

They'll receive a message back with a list of the toys which contain low levels of toxins in that store.

There is also a Web site with detailed results of the tests. You can search for information by brand or type and find out what kind of chemicals are in those toys. Visit www.healthytoys.org