Read More
Many parents would get their little ones pacifiers, along with a pacifier holder to prevent hygiene issues or aggravated fussing in case they dropped the pacifier, yet a Consumer Council test has found that 40 percent of baby pacifier holders sold in Hong Kong did not meet the safety requirements of the European Standards, posing choking or strangulation hazards.
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT
The Council’s test covered 15 models of baby pacifier holders sourced from different retailers in Hong Kong. Ten of them came with a garment fastener while the other five were not designed to be fastened on clothing.
The Council said the garment fastener or decorative part of five models could pass through the test guides simulating the oral cavity of young children, yet these parts did not provide ventilation holes, thus, failed to comply with the standards and might pose as a choking hazard.
The five models include PiyoPiyo’s Stylish Pacifier Chain, KuKu Duckbill @ Jini Baby’s Pacifier Chain, Snapkis’s 2-in-1 Pacifier & Teether Clip (Unicorn), Hoppetta’s Multi Clip (Hedgehog), and mushie’s Pacifier Clip (Ari Stone).
Meanwhile, the test also found that the straps of five of the pacifiers were too long with a possible strangulation hazard, with the longest one being 286mm (Hoppetta’s Multi Clip).
The European Standard requires the complete length of pacifier holders, excluding the garment fastener, to be no longer than 220mm, as the neck circumference of young children aged 0 to 36 months is 240mm on average.
Apart from structural safety, one of the models - Simba’s Pacifier Holder - was found with damage on the 320th attempt when subjected to repeated opening and closing. In the tensile strength test, the same model was also unable to withstand the tensile force of 90N and broke during the test.
The Council said the small parts of the model which broke off during the tests also posed as a choking hazard to young children if accidentally swallowed.
