by Steven Reinberg

Nearly 8 million Baby Shark and Mini Baby Shark bath toys have been recalled because they can cause serious injuries to children.

When using these bath toys, particularly in a bathtub or wading pool, a child can sit, slip or fall onto the shark's hard plastic top fin, posing risks of impalement, lacerations and puncture wounds, according to the company, Zuru.

This recall includes both full-size Robo Alive Junior Baby Shark Sing & Swim bath toys and Mini Baby Shark Swimming bath toys. The toys were sold at Walmart, CVS Pharmacy, Dollar General Corp., Family Dollar Services, HEB Grocery Company, Meijer, Target, TJX Companies, Ross and Walgreens stores nationwide and online at Walmart, Target, Amazon and other websites.

The full-size toys have tracking information on the bottom, including raised lettering with the model number #25282 and a date code beginning with the letters DG followed by "YYYY/MM/DD" in the date range DG20190501 through DG20220619. Only full-size Baby Shark toys with a hard plastic top fin are included in this recall.

The mini-size bath toys also have tracking labels on the bottom, including raised lettering with model numbers #7163, #7175, #7166, or #25291 and a date code beginning with the letters DG followed by YYYY/MM/DD in the date range DG2020615 through DG2023525.

Zuru knows of 12 reports of children falling or sitting onto the recalled full-size Baby Shark bath toy, resulting in impalement injuries, lacerations and puncture wounds, including to children's genitals, anus and face. Nine of the injuries required stitches or medical attention. No incidents or injuries involving the Mini Baby Shark bath toys have been reported, the company said.

Consumers should stop using the recalled bath toys immediately and contact Zuru to register for a refund.

Consumers should also disable the tail fin by cutting it on the full-size bath toy or by bending it on the mini-size bath toy. Mark the toy's body with the word "recalled" and the unique code provided during registration for the recall, then upload a photo of the product, showing it is disabled and marked, at recallrtr.com/bathshark.

Upon receipt of the photo, a refund of $14 for each full-size bath toy or $6 for each mini-size bath toy will be issued. The refund will be issued in the form of a prepaid virtual Mastercard.

For more information, call Zuru toll-free at 833-820-0839 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.

More information: Zuru has more about the recall.

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