News.Scotland.Org

October, 13

Sensation prevailed in the Perth prison when a dozen of skeletons were unearthed during the construction work was going on in here. Archaeologist told after inspecting these skeletons that these are 19th century skeletons. It was know that this incident occured yesterday while construction work was going on in the prison. The remains of about 24 peoples were recovered from the deep burial ditch of the prison.

According the archaeologist these skeletons dates back to the 1830s, when there was an asylum at this site. The reason behind the death of these people is said to be a typhus epidemic at the asylum, which killed all these men and women. This incident created a sensation among all, even to the prison staff and public, till it was known who these people were and how they get buried here.

One of the bone specialists David Henderson, who examined the remains of these skeletons said, two of the males appears to be suffering from syphilis and another one had hydrocephalus. He further said that the way all these skeletons were recovered in the same site, and were buried together suggest that they all died of an epidemic in the asylum. It was the renovation work in the prison which brought this hidden secret out to public.

Scotland, Oct 13: There are varieties of toys available in the market and the caring parents present their child with costly toys as an attempt to express their love to their children. With the arrival of Christmas and New Year in few months time the show rooms will display new breed of toys. At this point of time it is better to think about the quality standard of these toys.

Is the cost the only criteria to judge the quality of toys? No will be the answer. Toys made out of different material are reaching the market; there is lot of possibility for that material to be harmful to the child. It is better to check that before it affects the health of your innocent child, as their play mate turns out as the hidden enemy.

Trading standards officers are in full swing to restrict this menace and thereby help the anxious parents in the fight against faulty robots, flammable dolls and action figures coated in lead based paint. Two of the officers made a visit to the toy department of the Woolworths on a retail park in Scotland. The import of toys have converted the scrutiny process a tougher one. Last year, 440 products notified to the EU as potentially dangerous that includes 48 per cent of the import from China.

Every week officers across Scotland purchase dozens of toys and test them to reduce the risk of death and injuries to children. Trading centre officers laboratory experiments are carried out under strict guidelines, the mechanism for preventing lethal items from getting to shop shelves is far less scientific.

Testing of items from shop shelves is carried out by trading standards officers working for 32 local authorities across Scotland, each of them uses different practices dictated by budgets and staffing levels. There is no quota for how many toys are to be tested, and the number is a tiny fraction of the tens of thousands on sale. Other problem is there is no central database of products which have been found unsafe, either in Scotland or across the UK. The European Commission keeps a database of recalls, but it is unhelpfully sorted by date and is not designed for use by shoppers.

While commenting on this Martyn Evans, director of the Scottish Consumer Council, said: “We have seen huge strides in improving the safety regulations for children’s toys. But this is a high-stakes international business where the temptation will always exist to cut costs by cutting corners. No parent should ever be placed in the position that they might give their child something that risks their safety because of the way it is made. We cannot overstate the importance of the work being done by trading standards teams to keep dangerous products off the market.”

Other than official level lab test and restrictions the public has to be informed about the ruining effect of the toys made out of harmful chemical substance in their children. Proper restriction of the import of low standard toys from other countries should be regularised to minimise this problem.The stringent law to check this menace will help in wiping this problem out of Scotland.