One of the last things you might think about is the dangers of your incredibly cool, spiffy new Halloween costumes. But you should. Every year someone's costume goes up in flames or otherwise causes them harm. So this is not something to be taken lightly, nor to be trusted to manufacturers "safety" testing. A little bit of diligence on your part will keep your loved ones safe and the fun flowing.



Many of you have seen the photos of the boy badly burned in 2004 on Halloween when his Ring Wraith character costume from the Lord of The Rings Trilogy went up in flames, badly burning the seven year old. Amazingly, this costume is still being sold! This is just one of many examples of children burned when their costumes have caught fire, but there are things you can do to safeguard your children.

First of all, try and buy 100% polyester or nylon material costumes. These have the least chance of igniting, and if they do, they usually self-extinguish in a few seconds; however, this not the only danger. As the polyester melts it may start dripping the very hot material onto the skin, causing burns to the skin. If the costume says 100% polyester or nylon "exclusive of trimming and decorations"; that means that the part that's "exclusive" will burn, not to mention anything else your child maybe wearing under or over their costume. Foam padding popular in a lot of Superhero costumes burns pretty well. Stay completely away from 100% acrylic costumes. These go up like Roman candles.

Make sure to avoid lit candles in your own Halloween displays. You should also take care around people's houses that have chosen to use this unsafe practice. Halloween costumes are often long, flowing, and difficult for a youngster to control or keep track of, particularly when they're out having fun.

Halloween costume dangers aren't limited to just fire. There are several other concerns to think about. Tripping and falling is a source of many injuries every year on Halloween. Make sure your child's costume is easy to maneuver in and if they are wearing any masks, make sure they have a clear field of vision.

Speaking of vision, there's a new trend happening the last few years that bears mentioning, and that is the practice of wearing colored or costume contact lenses on Halloween. This would pertain mostly to adults, obviously, and the danger here is that many of these products, typically sold at beauty salons, video stores, gas stations and flea markets have been associated with corneal abrasions, bacterial infections and other vision-threatening maladies. These products aren't licensed or controlled in any meaningful way, and quality and cleanliness standards are often quite suspect. Our advice is: don't put anything into your eye that doesn't belong there!

Halloween can be a fun holiday as long as no gets hurt or is burned up! Make sure you don't make the evening news this year by following these few safety tips!