Back to Topic Index

Product Safety

Did you know ... Each year over 22,000 deaths and over 29 million injuries are related to consumer products under the jurisdiction of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)?

This translates to 8 deaths and 11,000 injuries per 100,000 people annually or 2 deaths and 3000 injuries each hour. Deaths, injuries, and property damage associated with consumer products cost the nation over 500 billion dollars each year.

While it is easy to pull recalled hazardous products off the shelves of retail stores, it is much more difficult to gather them from thrift shops and individual homes.

What can you do?

• Contact the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission for a com-prehensive list of recalled products by calling the CPSC Hotline at 1-800-638-CPSC or search online at www.cpsc.gov.

• Prevent injuries to others by reporting any product related injuries to the CPSC Hotline at 1-800-638-CPSC or by filling out the online Consumer Product Incident Report (for consumers only)

• Join the CPSC recall e-mail notification list to get recall alerts sent to your email.
  
  
• Check recalls for child safety seats by contacting the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration www.nhtsa.dot.gov.
  
  
• Check your home, including your attic and basement, for recalled products.
  
  
• Before you have a yard sale, loan an item to a friend, or pass something down to your grandchildren check to see if there have been any recalls associated with the product.

Secondhand Products

In a recent national study of thrift stores conducted by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, an estimated 69 percent of the stores were selling at least one type of hazardous consumer product. Many of these were children's products.

THRIFT STORES: Check products carefully before you sell.

CONSUMERS: Check products carefully before you buy.

If you buy secondhand products, here are some tips to help you make safer purchases.

• Cribs
  Make sure cribs meet current national safety standards and are in good condition. Look for a certification seal. Check that crib slats are no more than 2 3/8 inches apart. Crib mattresses should fit snugly.
  Danger: If crib slats are too far apart, infants can slip between them and strangle. If the mattress doesn't fit snugly, infants can become entrapped and suffocate.
  
  
• Clothing Drawstrings
  Be sure there are no drawstrings around the hood and neck of children's upper outerwear clothing, such as sweatshirts. Other types of clothing fasteners, like snaps, zippers, or hook and loop fasteners (such as Velcro), should be used. Drawstrings at the waist should not extend more than 3 inches.
  Danger: Drawstrings can catch on playground and other equipment, and can strangle young children.
  
  
• Hair Dryers
  Look for hair dryers with large rectangular shaped safety plugs.
  These immersion protection plugs prevent electrocution by shutting off the current if the hair dryer comes into contact with water.
  
  
• Halogen Floor Lamps
  Make sure that halogen torchiere floor lamps have glass or wire guards over the bulb shield and the bulb is 300 watts or less.
  Glass or wire guards with lower wattage bulbs can prevent fires that occur when flammable materials like curtains get too close to the lamp. Wire guards are free. Call CPSC.
  
  
• Playpens and Play yards
  Check that playpens and play yards have not been recalled. Recalled products include play yards with protruding hardware or rotating top rails that don't properly lock into place.
  Danger: Children can strangle if pacifier strings or clothing become entangled on protruding hardware. Children can be entrapped by folding play yards that collapse.
  
  
• Car Seat Carriers
  Check to make sure the infant car seat carrier you are buying has not been recalled. Car seat carrier handle locks on recalled models can unexpectedly release when used as a carrier outside of a car.
  Danger: Infants can fall forward and strike the ground if the handle disengages.
  
  
• Bunk Beds
  Make sure all spaces between the guardrail and bed frame and all spaces in the bed headboard and foot boards of the top bunk are less than 3 1/2 inches. Make sure there are guardrails on both sides of the top bunk.
  Danger: Children can become entrapped and strangle in the bed's structure or wedged between the bed and a wall and suffocate.
  
  
• Toy Basketball Nets
  CPSC has recalled millions of hazardous toy basketball nets. Check before you buy. Children can strangle on loops or openings in these basketball nets if the nets come unhooked from the rim or have knots that slide. If children put their heads into these openings, the nets can get tangled around their necks.
  Danger: Toy basketball nets can present a strangulation hazard to children.
  
  
• Accordion Style Safety Gates
  Do not buy older accordion-style child safety gates. Make sure that newer style child safety gates are used to keep children away from potentially dangerous areas, especially stairs.
  Danger: Older child safety gates that do not meet current safety standards can present strangulation and other hazards to young children.
  
  
• Bean Bag Chairs
  Do not buy bean bag chairs with zippers that can be opened. CPSC has recalled more than 12 million bean bag chairs.
  Danger: Young children can unzip bean bag chairs and choke or suffocate on the small pellets of foam filling.
  
  Guidance for Operators of Thrift Stores and Other Resale Stores
  
  Brochure: Are you selling dangerous products in your yard sale?

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC): You'll find an archive of all recalls, product-related data, free brochures and tips. http://www.cpsc.gov

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA): Here you will find recalls related to child passenger safety seats and free traffic safety educational materials. http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov

Recalls.gov: Six federal agencies with vastly different jurisdictions have joined together to create http://www.recalls.gov -- a "one stop shop" for U.S. Government recalls.