“In such a manner, our opposition is luring the youth,” Ruslan Ostashko, the editor in chief of a pro-Kremlin website, PolitRussia.ru, told Rossiya 24 in a separate report. “Those who understand political technologies, they understand very clearly that this simple thing is controlling the masses.” 
 
 Russia’s consumer protection agency, Rospotrebnadzor, got into the act on Tuesday, announcing that it would investigate the toys. 
 
 “There has been an aggressive promotion of so-called spinners among children and teenagers in Russia recently,” the agency said in a statement. “Taking into consideration the anxiety among the community of parents and teachers, Rospotrebnadzor, in cooperation with child health research institutions, will study the effect spinners are having on children, including the possible negative impact.” 
 
 Of course, Russia is not alone in harboring concerns about spinners. The hand-held devices have been modified to carry all manner of harmful things, like knives and firecrackers, becoming more weapon than toy. 
 
 In Germany, customs officials confiscated 35 tons of spinners in May. There was no clear indication of who made them, said Christine Strass, a spokeswoman for the customs authority, and they posed a danger to young children, who could swallow small parts like the ball bearings that make the toys spin. 
 
 Although some therapists have said that the spinners help people with attention disorders, various schools in the United States have banned them as a distraction. 
 
 The toy seemed to achieve cult status recently after the comedy show “Saturday Night Live” produced a spoof advertisement for a diamond-encrusted fidget spinner from Cartier. ||||| Not everyone gets fidget spinners. The trendy new toy is meant to ease stress and anxiety but Russian state TV fears it could have more nefarious purposes, namely turning the nation’s youth to vandalism and acts of opposition against Russian leader Vladimir Putin. 
 
 The palm-sized device “makes a person impressionable for manipulation,” news show host Alexey Kazakov said on one of multiple segments broadcast by the state-run Rossiya24 dedicated to the dangers of fidget spinners. 
 
 The toys themselves look innocuous enough, mostly consisting of a bearing center with a three-pronged ring which spins when pushed. They come in different colours and have become a global phenomenon among young people, including young Russians. 
 
 But over the last month, fidget spinners have puzzled Russian pundits, who suspect them to be U.S.-made tools of manipulation for Russia’s opposition. 
 
 Read More: Putin’s mystery companion puzzles Kremlin watchers 
 
 “Probably it is no coincidence that they started selling the spinners at events by the non-systemic opposition,” the host of the programme Virus said on Wednesday. Kazakov explained that according to experts the item could be used as “an object for zombifying” yourself, shutting down critical thinking and experiencing a kind of “hypnosis.” 
 
 Featuring a report from a psychologist named Svetlana Filatova, the program claimed that spinners can help the dexterity of very young children but beyond that, the spinner “dulls” a person’s mind and focusing only on the spinner “takes you to a different world.” 
 
 This was not the channel’s first on air assault against the fidget spinner, as the hazards associated with the device made another evening news broadcast last month. 
 
 Fidget spinners “have frequently been seen in the hands of members of the non-systemic opposition,” Alexey Kazakov said at the time. He noted schoolchildren and college students were using the devices in Russia, where the trend was at its peak, unlike in the West where it was apparently waning. 
 
 “As you can see here there is only writing in English, on the other side there is not a word in Russian,” Nikolay Sokolov, Kazakov’s co-anchor chimed in, brandishing a new fidget spinner. He underlined the lack of medical evidence that the item had many benefits but that the interest in it among scientists “is not big.” 
 
 “Why the spinner has become so popular in Russia now is a mystery,” Sokolov said. “Who could be promoting it en masse?” 
 
 According to Sokolov, fidget spinners were being distributed at opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s last rally on June 12 
 
 Russian independent journalist Alexey Kovalev was among the first to draw attention to the initial bizarre segments on Russian national airwaves, tweeting his response. 
 
 Fidget spinners are used by opposition to pacify followers and distract them from real issues. Because that's what opposition usually does. — Alexey Kovalev (@Alexey__Kovalev) July 12, 2017 
 
 “God! Rossiya24 is running another segment about about the opposition zombifying people with spinners. Basically the Russian opposition is a massive job creator in the country,” he added. “Look at how many bloggers, analysts and TV hosts are hired.” ||||| By Dev Gowda and Kara Cook-Schultz, U.S. PIRG Education Fund 
 
 Introduction 
 
 The negative health effects of lead poisoning are well known. Unfortunately, lead remains a problem in our everyday lives. While much attention has been focused on tainted drinking water, such as the lead crisis in Flint, Mich., lead still remains a problem in toys. While lead in toys has become less prevalent in recent years, U.S. PIRG Education Fund tested several models of one of today’s hottest toys, fidget spinners, for the toxic heavy metal. Laboratory results indicated that two fidget spinners purchased at Target and distributed by Bulls i Toy, L.L.C. contained extremely high levels of lead. 
 
 U.S. PIRG Education Fund calls on Target and Bulls i Toy to immediately recall these two fidget spinners and investigate how such high levels of lead were found in these toys. Also, we call on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to classify these fidget spinners as toys and hold them to federal standards for lead in children’s products. 
 
 Background on Lead 
 
 Elemental lead is a metal occurring naturally in soils and rocks. It has a variety of commercial uses including in batteries, plastics, and radiation shielding. In the past, lead was also added to gasoline and paint. Because of lead’s toxicity, in 1978 it was banned in household paint, in products marketed to children, and in dishes and cookware in the United States. Lead is not discernible by sight or smell. 
 
 Lead exposure is particularly damaging for young children because of its impact on development. Even low levels of lead in blood have been shown to undermine IQ, attentiveness, and academic achievement. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) makes clear that any amount of lead in a child’s blood is unsafe. Moreover, since the effects of lead exposure cannot be reversed, it is especially important to prevent lead exposure to children in the first place. 
 
 Unfortunately, toys can pose a risk in part because lead is used in other countries and can be found in imported products. Additionally, lead may be incorporated into plastic. Lead is used to soften plastic and make it more flexible, but when the plastic is exposed to sunlight, air, or detergents, the chemical bond between the lead and plastic breaks down, forming lead dust. Children can inhale or come in contact with this dust when they put toys in or near their mouths. 
 
 Federal Standards for Lead 
 
 With a few exceptions, federal law requires that all children’s products manufactured after August 2011 contain no more than 100 parts per million (ppm) of total lead content in all accessible parts. The CPSC defines accessible parts as parts that a child could reach through “normal and reasonably foreseeable use and abuse of the product.” 
 
 Paint or similar surface coatings on all children’s products are subject to a limit of 90 ppm of total lead. (Household paints are also subject to this rule.) 
 
 Exceptions to these standards include metal components of bicycles, which cannot contain more than 300 ppm of lead. Components in electronic devices, inaccessible parts, and other items are exempt from the lead standard. 
 
 Note that these limits do not meet the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), which recommends that all products intended for use by children contain no more than trace amounts of lead, defined as 40 ppm, the high end of typical lead concentrations in uncontaminated soil. 
 
 Lead Found in Fidget Spinners 
 
 Several fidget spinners were tested for lead content by a CPSC-accredited laboratory. The fidget spinners were analyzed in accordance with CPSC-CH-E1001-8.3 using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP/MS). The toys that tested for high levels of lead were then re-tested a second time to confirm the results. The results of the second test are included in this report. 
 
 The lab results showed two fidget spinners contained extremely high levels of lead: 
 
 
 
 Fidget Wild Premium Spinner Brass: 
 
 The center circle tested for 33,000 ppm of lead. 
 
 The arm tested for 22,000 ppm of lead. 
 
 This fidget spinner was purchased at Target and is distributed by Bulls i Toy, LLC, located in Des Moines, Iowa. Although the box says for ages 14+, the Target.com website where it is available for sale says both that it is for children 6+ and 14+ and specifically states that it is “framed as a toy”. See screenshot from Target.com website below. Moreover, it was found in the toy aisles of numerous Target stores throughout the country and is marketed as a toy. Below is a picture of the Fidget Wild Premium Spinner Brass in the toy aisle of a Target store. Therefore, we believe that this product should be treated as a toy since it’s marketed for use by children under 12 years. 
 
 Screenshot from Target.com website. 
 
 Fidget spinner in Target store. 
 
 
 
 Fidget Wild Premium Spinner Metal: 
 
 The center circle tested for 1,300 ppm of lead. 
 
 The arm tested for 520 ppm of lead. 
 
 This fidget spinner was purchased at Target and is distributed by Bulls i Toy, LLC, located in Des Moines, Iowa. Although it says it’s for ages 14+, it was found in the toy aisles of numerous Target stores throughout the country and is marketed as a toy. Therefore, it should be held to federal lead standards for children’s products. 
 
 Furthermore, the BullsiToy.com website where Fidget Wild products are found is clearly a website for toys. Below is a screenshot of the Bulls i Toy website. The products they sell are marketed towards children and should, therefore, be classified as toys by the CPSC. 
 
 Alarmingly, when U.S. PIRG Education Fund notified the CPSC about the elevated lead levels in the fidget spinners, the CPSC responded in an email (screenshot below) that these fidget spinners are general use products, not toys, so the CPSC will not hold them to federal lead standards. When we alerted Target and the toy's distributor to our findings, they pointed to the same CPSC statement and refused to address the problem. Belying that statement, U.S. PIRG Education Fund staff found these fidget spinners sold in the toy aisle of Target stores and on the Target.com website, which includes a statement that the product is intended for children ages 6 and up. Furthermore, common sense dictates that fidget spinners are meant for kids and therefore should be classified as toys. U.S. PIRG Education Fund calls on the CPSC to classify these fidget spinners as toys and hold them to the federal standard for lead in children’s products. 
 
 Recommendations 
 
 For consumers: 
 
 Adults and children alike should stop using these fidget spinners. 
 
 Call on the CPSC to classify all fidget spinners as toys so that they will be held to federal standards for lead in children’s products. 
 
 Subscribe to email recall updates from the CPSC and other U.S. government safety agencies available at www.recalls.gov. 
 
 For Target, Corp and Bulls I Toy, L.L.C.: 
 
 Immediately recall these fidget spinners and remove from store shelves and Target.com website. 
 
 Issue a public statement about the recall due to high lead content. 
 
 Investigate how these toys came to contain such extremely high levels of lead and make findings public. 
 
 Ensure that other fidget spinners sold or manufactured do not contain high levels of lead. 
 
 Notify customers who purchased these fidget spinners, where contact information is available, that they should stop using the fidget spinner due to high levels of lead and offer a return for full refund. 
 
 For U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission: 
 
 Ensure that all fidget spinners are classified as toys and that they must meet federal regulations for children’s products. 
 
 Investigate any misleading marketing by Target, Corp. and Bulls i Toy, L.L.C. and take appropriate action. Although the labels on the toy boxes say 14+, they’re clearly being marketed to children under 12 years. 
 
 Conduct testing for other fidget spinners, especially those labeled “brass” or “metal”, for lead. 
 
 U.S. PIRG Education Fund is a consumer and public health non-profit organization. We work to educate the public about dangers in toys, and for more than 30 years we have published an annual report titled Trouble in Toyland. Our survey of toys has led to more than 150 recalls and other enforcement actions.
– Fidget spinners are the hot new children's toy this year—but maybe they're also an American plot to topple the Russian government? "Those who understand political technologies, they understand very clearly that this simple thing is controlling the masses," the New York Times quotes the editor in chief of PolitRussia.ru as saying. Multiple reports about the dangers of fidget spinners have been appearing on Russian state-run media in recent weeks. It started with Rossiya 24 claiming opposition politicians were using them to gain the support of young Russians. An opposition leader was seen playing with a fidget spinner in court, and the toys were being sold at an opposition protest, the Telegraph reports. A reporter for Rossiya 24 said fidget spinners make it "easy to divert attention from the real problems." But the fidget spinner phenomena could be even more insidious than that. Commentators on Rossiya 24 said the toys might be an attempt to "zombify people" in Russia and make them open to manipulation. Newsweek reports commentators went on to claim users of fidget spinners could experience a form of "hypnosis." They added that playing with the toy "dulls" the mind and "takes you to a different place." A Rossiya 24 reporter pointed out that the package of a fidget spinner purchased in Moscow bore only English writing. Russia's consumer protection agency is now investigating the toys and encourages parents to supervise children using fidget spinners.