Dancing Chicken Toy Recalled for Loudness But Many Loud Toys Remain on Store Shelves

Posted on March 10, 2016

The Dan-Dee Chicken Dance Easter Chick is comical looking and very loud. Not too many people ever owned this Easter toy because it was recalled in 2013 for posing a hearing damage hazard. Only 1,000 of the toys were sold before the recall.

It was unusual recall as toys are generally not recalled for being too loud. It has happened with some loud remote control toys, such as remote control airplanes. A common complaint with many animatronic plush toys is they often have no volume control. There is a decibel standard that toy manufacturers are supposed to adhere too. Some argue that there are still toys that are causing hearing damage on the market.

Dr. Hamid Djalilian, an ear, nose and threat specialist at UC Irvine, shared a list of 24 loud toys on the market during Christmas 2014. The Sight & Hearing Association publishes an annual noisy toys list.

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association offers some practical advice. They say, "Before purchasing a new toy, listen to it. If the toy sounds loud, don't buy it." You can also remove the batteries from a loud toy or place heavy duct tape over the speakers. Another way to find out if a toy is too loud is to use an iPhone app. You can find a list of noise measuring apps on healthyhearing.com.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a statement when recalling the dancing chicken, "The toy's music can reach decibel levels that exceed ASTM F963 standard, posing a hearing damage hazard."

Scott Wolfson, director of communications at the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), told Today, "This is a precautionary announcement. This toy is not in compliance with a federal standard, but we do not want parents to think that the noise this toy makes is going to cause immediate hearing loss or long-term damage to a child."

Fred Meyer quickly stopped selling the toy. The dancing chicken toy was manufactured in China. Not surprisingly the toy can still be found on eBay where it is described as "rare." Here is a video of the toy and it does seem loud.




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