Children’s Toy Injuries in Georgia: Choking Hazards, Toxins, and Product Liability

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A claim over a child’s toy injury draws on two bodies of law: federal safety regulations that set design, materials, and battery requirements for children’s products, and Georgia’s product liability statute that decides who can be sued and for how long. The federal texts supply concrete standards a toy can be measured against; the Georgia text supplies the defendants, the repose period, and the rules for a minor’s claim.

The Small-Parts Rule

Under 16 CFR 1501.4(a), “[n]o toy or other children’s article subject to § 1500.18(a)(9) and to this part 1501 shall be small enough to fit entirely within a cylinder with the dimensions shown in Figure 1,” and in compliance testing the Commission’s cylinder will be no greater than those dimensions, with the English measurements controlling. The test procedure is to “[p]lace the article, without compressing it, into the cylinder. If the article fits entirely within the cylinder, in any orientation, it fails to comply with the test procedure.” An article that does not fit is then subjected to “use and abuse” tests, and any components or pieces that detach and “fit entirely within the cylinder, in any orientation and without being compressed” cause it to fail (16 CFR 1501.4(b)(1), (2)).

The Toy Safety Standard and Button Batteries

“Each toy must comply with all applicable provisions of ASTM F963-23” (16 CFR 1250.2(a)). Reese’s Law is implemented by 16 CFR part 1263, which “establishes performance and labeling requirements for consumer products containing button cell or coin batteries to prevent child access to batteries during reasonably foreseeable use and misuse of the consumer product,” and which is “intended to eliminate or adequately reduce the risk of injury and death to children 6 years old and younger from ingesting these batteries” (16 CFR 1263.1(a)). It carves out toys: “Any object designed, manufactured, or marketed as a plaything for children under 14 years of age that is in compliance with the battery accessibility and labeling requirements of 16 CFR part 1250 is exempt from the requirements of this part” (16 CFR 1263.1(c)). A “button cell or coin battery” includes “[a] single cell battery with a diameter greater than the height of the battery” (16 CFR 1263.2).

Lead

Under 15 U.S.C. 1278a(a)(1), any children’s product “that contains more lead than the limit established by paragraph (2) shall be treated as a banned hazardous substance under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act.” The statute sets stepped limits of 600 parts per million and then 300 parts per million, and then provides that the limit becomes “100 parts per million” “unless the Commission determines that a limit of 100 parts per million is not technologically feasible for a product or product category” (15 U.S.C. 1278a(a)(2)).

Who Can Be Sued in Georgia

The manufacturer of personal property sold as new, whether directly or through a dealer, is liable in tort, regardless of privity, to a natural person injured because the property was not merchantable and reasonably suited to its intended use when sold, if its condition then proximately caused the injury (OCGA 51-1-11(b)(1)). In a strict-liability action, a product seller, a term that covers a business that sells and distributes, labels, markets, or assembles a product to a manufacturer’s plan, is not a manufacturer and is not liable as one (OCGA 51-1-11.1(a), (b)), and no manufacturer can be held liable on market-share, enterprise, or other industry-wide theories (OCGA 51-1-11(d)).

The Supreme Court of Georgia recognizes manufacturing defects, design defects, and marketing or packaging defects as the three general categories of product defects (Banks v. ICI Americas, Inc., 264 Ga. 732 (1994)). No strict-liability action may be commenced more than ten years after the first sale of the product for use or consumption, and subsection (c) applies that limit to negligence actions against a manufacturer, with exceptions, while preserving the manufacturer’s duty to warn of a danger once it becomes known (OCGA 51-1-11(b)(2), (c)).

A Child’s Claim

A person under 18 when the claim accrues has the same time after turning 18 that others have, except as OCGA 9-3-33.1 provides, and for an injury to the person that time is two years after the right of action accrues (OCGA 9-3-90(b); OCGA 9-3-33). The ten-year period in OCGA 51-1-11(b)(2) runs from the first sale and is a separate limit.

For example, imagine the claim of a minor who has no conservator, proposed to be settled for a gross amount of $30,000, of which $9,000 goes to attorney’s fees and litigation expenses, leaving a net settlement of $21,000. A gross settlement above $25,000.00 with a net of $25,000.00 or less must be submitted for approval to the probate court or the court in which the action is pending, and no conservator is required (OCGA 29-3-3(c)(2)). If the minor already has a conservator, only the conservator can compromise the claim (OCGA 29-3-3(b)).

Frequently Asked Questions

When did the button battery rules take effect?
The effective date of the performance requirements in 16 CFR 1263.3 is October 23, 2023, and packages of button cell or coin batteries manufactured or imported after September 21, 2024 must meet the packaging label requirements in 16 CFR 1263.4 (16 CFR 1263.1(b)).

Are all button batteries covered?
No. Batteries the Commission has determined do not present an ingestion hazard are not subject to part 1263, and those are zinc-air button cell or coin batteries (16 CFR 1263.1(d)).

Can a toy be excepted from the federal lead limit?
The Commission must grant an exception for a specific product, class, material, or component part if, after notice and a hearing, it determines that the lead is necessary because removing it or making it inaccessible is not practicable or technologically feasible, that the item is not likely to be placed in the mouth or ingested, and that the exception will have no measurable adverse effect on public health or safety (15 U.S.C. 1278a(b)(1)(A)).

Is every part of the ASTM toy standard mandatory?
No. Section 4.2 and Annex 5 of ASTM F963, and any provision that restates or incorporates an existing Commission standard or ban or a Food and Drug Administration regulation or statute, are not part of the mandatory standard (16 CFR 1250.2(b)).

  • 16 CFR 1501.4(a), (b); 16 CFR 1250.2(a), (b); 16 CFR 1263.1(a) through (d), 1263.2 (eCFR text as of September 1, 2026)
  • 15 U.S.C. 1278a(a)(1), (a)(2), (b)(1)(A)
  • OCGA 51-1-11(b), (c), (d); OCGA 51-1-11.1(a), (b); Banks v. ICI Americas, Inc., 264 Ga. 732, 450 S.E.2d 671 (1994)
  • OCGA 9-3-33; OCGA 9-3-90(b); OCGA 9-3-33.1; OCGA 29-3-3(b), (c)(2)

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about children’s toy injury claims under federal and Georgia law. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Whether a product violated a standard, who may be sued, and which periods apply depend on the specific product, the date of first sale, and the facts. A family dealing with a toy injury should consult a licensed Georgia attorney promptly about the particular situation.

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