Parents are always concerned with their child's safety. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, toy-related death and injuries in the last year have sky-rocketed. Between January 1, 1994 and September 30, 1994, 165,400 toy-related injuries were reported. Of these victims, 80,300 were under five years of age. About 45% of these toy-related injuries involved choking.

Because of these steadily increasing numbers, it is estimated that by the year 2000, 50% of all toy-related injuries will be due to choking. This is why we found it very important to find a solution to this problem. Our main objective was to formulate a chemically based coating for children's toys which, when tasted would force them to spit out the object. We began our research into bitter and salty flavors. Due to their harsh and pungent taste, bitter flavors resulted in having the desired characteristics. The five main bitter flavors that we chose were capsicum, quassia, ginger, black pepper, and turmeric.

Using these flavors we applied scientific theories to manufactured toy products. Our experiments were supervised by graduate chemists at Comax Industries. Our result was a substance which a child's taste receptors basically rejected. We then furthered our experiment by applying our chemical compound to various toys and testing them on little children. Their response made our project a success! s



Students: David Cid f Blessin Eapen f Scott Gemmill Teacher-Advisor: Salvatore Trentacoste