Top 10 Dangerous Products That Don't Exist Anymore

While undeniably beautiful, the Ford Pinto was produced for just ten years between 1970 and 1980. And in that time, it became infamous for one major safety flaw. You see, its fuel tank design made it highly susceptible to deadly fires in rear-end collisions. Positioned behind the rear axle, the tank was prone to rupturing upon impact, spilling fuel everywhere and igniting dangerous fires. Investigations revealed that Ford knew about the issue but chose not to redesign it due to cost concerns (as always), leading to major lawsuits and public outrage. The negative publicity, resulting legal battles, and increased safety regulations led to declining sales, and by 1980, Ford had discontinued the Pinto, marking it as one of the most infamous vehicles in history.

These weight loss drugs have a long and controversial history, dating all the way back to the early 20th century. Amphetamines were briefly used for weight loss, but they were too addictive. Banned. A compound called DNP was used in early diet pills, but it would cook people from the inside out and cause death by hyperthermia. Banned, but it’s coming back. The 1990s saw the rise of a popular weight loss drug called fen-phen, but wouldn’t you know it, it was quickly linked to severe heart damage. Banned. The list quite literally goes on. Over the years, the FDA has banned or restricted countless diet pills due to safety concerns, reinforcing the risks of unregulated and unnatural weight loss solutions.

In 1963, Disney released “Son of Flubber,” a sequel to their smash hit “The Absent-Minded Professor.” To coincide with its release, Hasbro released a Flubber-like substance that would stretch and bounce around, just as it does in the movie. However, the goop contained a chemical compound that gave children sore throats and horrible rashes. It got so bad that some kids needed to be hospitalized, leading to lawsuits and an investigation by the FDA. The toy was released during the Christmas season of 1962, and by May of the following year it was gone, having been banned for safety concerns. Turns out, this Flubber was more like The Blob.

Also known as Methyl yellow, “butter yellow” was a synthetic dye used to color food, particularly butter and margarine, to enhance their yellow hue. Why? Because it looked cool, probably. It was first synthesized in the 1860s and quickly gained popularity due to its vibrant color and affordability. However, concerns over its safety emerged as research linked azo dyes to various types of cancer. By 1939, the International Congress for Cancer Research was recommending it be banned, and many countries phased it out of production throughout the following decades. It was a smart move that reinforced the shift toward safer, non-toxic food colorants that, you know, won’t give you cancer.

Kids didn’t have a lot of options in the 1960s. Enter clackers, which consisted of two balls dangling from a string. When you swung the string and banged the balls together, they made a loud clacking sound. Yep, that’s it! The balls were first made of tempered glass, which is probably the worst idea we’ve ever heard. Unsurprisingly, two glass balls hitting each other at high speeds often resulted in them shattering into people’s faces and causing all sorts of horrible injuries. These glass clackers were swiftly banned and replaced with plastic, although these were also deemed a “mechanical hazard” under the gloriously-named “United States v. Article Consisting of 50,000 Cardboard Boxes More or Less, Each Containing One Pair of Clacker Balls.”

Man, the 19th century was wild. In 1845, Maine’s Jeremiah Curtis and Benjamin Perkins introduced Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup, named after Curtis’s mother-in-law, Charlotte Winslow. This product was widely marketed at the time, being seen as a miracle cure for things like constipation, bad breath, and baby teething. There’s a reason it helped ease the pain of teething - it contained morphine! Naturally, this posed a severe health risk, and many people, including infants, suffered its effects. The medicine’s reputation plummeted in the early 20th century, especially after the American Medical Association called it a “Baby Killer” in 1911. Despite this, the Soothing Syrup wasn’t officially discontinued until 1930.

Did you know that Listerine once made their own cigarettes? Yep, they were introduced in 1927, about ten years after Listerine was made widely available as an over-the-counter mouthwash. It was part of a broader trend in the early 1900s when medicinal cigarettes - often containing things like menthol, eucalyptus, or even antiseptics - were erroneously promoted as health aids. Like its contemporaries, Listerine cigarettes were said to soothe sore throats and freshen breath, and the irony there is so palpable that we don’t even know where to start. Unsurprisingly, these did not last long, proving both unpopular and enormously dangerous. Smoking is smoking after all, and a little bit of Listerine inside the cigarette isn’t going to change that.

Discovered in 1898, radium was initially hailed as a miracle element. In the early 20th century, it was widely used in consumer products, including glow-in-the-dark watches, toothpaste, beauty creams, and even health tonics. People genuinely believed that it had rejuvenating and healing properties. Once again, the irony is flabbergasting. The Radium Girls, factory workers who painted watch dials with radioactive paint, suffered severe radiation poisoning, and scientists later linked radium exposure to cancers, bone decay, and other fatal conditions. Regulations were introduced as awareness grew, and by the mid 20th century radium was banned in consumer goods. Today, it’s a strictly-controlled chemical element unavailable to the public. One hundred years ago, you were brushing your teeth with it.

Widely known for its durability, vibrant color, and resistance to moisture, lead-based paint was in use for centuries. It was widely used in homes, toys, and industrial applications - you couldn’t go anywhere without breathing this stuff in. But by the early 1900s, health concerns emerged as studies linked lead to poisoning, developmental delays, cognitive impairments, and fatal organ damage. Countries began restricting lead paint in the mid 20th century, and the U.S. banned its residential use in 1978 after extensive research confirmed its toxicity. However, it is still being used in certain applications like road paint, and poisoning from flaking walls, dust, and contaminated soil remains a public health issue.

Yes, you can still buy lawn darts, but in a heavily-modified form. The original design hasn’t been available since 1988. The dangers of lawn darts were known long before then, with the FDA classifying the toy as a “mechanical hazard” back in 1970. As such, they were not allowed to be sold in toy stores, and the packaging had to clearly inform buyers that they were dangerous. Yet they remained legal, and thousands of injuries - and even some deaths - occurred in the years that followed. It wasn’t until the death of Michelle Snow in 1987 that intense lobbying focused on the legality of lawn darts, and both Canada and the U.S. banned them the following year.

Do you remember any of these? Let us know in the comments below!