The New York Public Interest Research Group released a list yesterday of 178 toys that pose dangers to children, one of which was a miniature tank blasting sounds of gunfire and explosions.

In its 2004 survey of dangerous toys, the group said Toys “R” Us Inc. put realism before safety by making the Elite Operations M-1 Tank too loud. The toy hits 100 decibels at the 1-cm range and 90 decibels at the 25-cm range, placing children at risk for hearing damage, said a consumer advocate and project coordinator for Nypirg, Carla Sterling.

“The closer the child places it to the ear, the more damage it can cause,” Ms. Sterling said. “Thousands of children lose some hearing after playing with loud toys each year.”

Ms. Sterling was referring to a 1998 study by the Journal of the American Medical Association that showed nearly 15% of children ages 6 to 17 show signs of hearing loss.

The vice president of standards and regulatory affairs for the Toy Industry Association, Joan Lawrence, said the noise standard Nypirg is using is from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and requires eight hour of exposure before damage occurs.

“Children do not play with these toys so close to their heads and certainly not for the amount of time it takes for them to get hurt,” Ms. Lawrence said.

The debate yesterday over loud toys between Nypirg and toy industry advocates also touched on other allegedly dangerous objects in playpens that choke, strangle, and poison. These hazards resulted in the hospitalization of more than 200,000 children in America last year as well as 11 deaths, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Nypirg said in its 19th annual survey that it identified 178 potentially dangerous toys in 45 stores in New York State. Information about the toys are posted on its Web site, www.toysafety.net. It spotlighted more than a dozen toys at Hunter College yesterday that were purchased in the New York City metropolitan area.

One return offender from last year’s survey is the yo-yo water ball, distributed by many companies. More than 400 reports of strangulation were reported to the CPSC by parents who purchased the product. The parents allegedly found their children suffocating with the cord from the plastic yo-yo wrapped around their necks and were forced to free them using knives, scissors, and even their teeth.

In addition to strangulation, parents reported incidents when the ball snapped back and hit a child, when it caught fire if near a flame, and when children got sick from drinking the liquid stored inside. The federal government has thus far taken little action to ban the yo-yo.

“This product has been the cause of too many deaths and is still on the market,” said Nypirg’s consumer attorney, Tracey Shelton.