It’s spinning out of control.
Customs officials have impounded just over 200,000 fidget spinners amid fears over their safety. The toys have taken Ireland by storm over the last few months.
Fidget spinners are made up of three interlocked plastic spinners that are spun around the finger like a propeller. They cost about €5 in most retail stores.
Initially, they were designed to relieve stress and are claimed to help people with ADHD or autism to concentrate, although studies have shown that the toys can sometimes distract rather than benefit children.
The fidget spinners have become more widely popular with schoolchildren and because there is such high demand for the piece of plastic, the toys are now in short supply.
According to The Times, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) said that it was seizing shipments of spinners every day. It found that a certain version of the toy had parts that easily detached and posed a serious choking hazard.
Most of the products on sale in Ireland meet the standards set under the EU Toy Safety Directive and are not under scrutiny.
However, there has been a rush of imports each week to meet inflated demands for the toy and the CCPC believe inferior products may have been getting into the country as a result.
The CCPC, which is working alongside Revenue and Customs, has suspended the importation of fidget spinners which they are examining and since Thursday, 90,000 have been seized.
The CCPC said that products seized did not comply with European law and would be sent back to where they came from or destroyed.
In one case in America, a ten-year-old girl in Texas required emergency surgery after she choked on a piece of her fidget spinner.
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