CPSC News

Spring marks the annual kickoff for children's outdoor sports. As snow boots are being stored away and bicycles, inline skates and scooters are brought out, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is teaming up with the Chicago White Sox to urge kids to put on their helmets and safety gear.

The CPSC and the Chicago White Sox are reminding parents and caregivers that when it comes to certain outdoor activities, helmets and safety gear are important for kids. That means putting on a helmet when riding a bicycle or when up to bat in baseball, and wearing a helmet and knee and elbow pads for skateboarding.

At a press conference with the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field, CPSC Acting Chairman Nancy Nord stated, "Wearing a helmet and safety gear is good common sense. It can keep your child on the sports field and out of the emergency room."

CPSC data show that the rate of sports-related injuries is most often highest for kids age 10 to 14. The exception is for children age 5 to 9 who have a higher rate of injuries involving unpowered scooters.

Bicycling topped the list for injuries to children in 2006, with nearly 240,000 emergency-room-treated injuries.

Wearing a bicycle helmet while biking, for example, can reduce the risk of head injury by 85 percent, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

CPSC data also showed that there were nearly 221,000 football emergency room-treated injuries, 85,000 baseball injuries and 65,000 skateboard injuries to children younger than 15 in 2006.

All-terrain vehicles (ATVs) were involved in the most deaths, 149 in 2004, to children under 15. Bicycles were involved in 77 deaths in the same age group. There were four deaths of children involving skateboards.

At the press conference, Chicago White Sox catchers A.J. Pierzynski and Toby Hall handed out free bicycle helmets to students from McClellan Elementary School, a public school on Chicago's south side. The helmets were donated to the students by Bell Sports Inc.

"As a catcher, I always wear all of my safety gear, rain or shine, hot or cold. I encourage kids to do the same whatever their sport. It can save their lives." says Pierzynski.

"It's also important to make sure your safety gear fits right. Make sure there are no loose straps and that your helmet is on correctly so it can protect you," says Hall.

Nord announced at the conference that the Chicago White Sox and McClellan Elementary School are joining CPSC's Neighborhood Safety Network (NSN), a network of 5,500 grassroots organizations. CPSC offers free safety information to the public through the NSN, an initiative designed to assist local organizations in providing lifesaving information to underserved members of their communities. (4-28-08)

Children and playgrounds go together like chocolate and milk. Drop by any playground this spring and summer and you are bound to find dozens of active kids swinging, sliding, climbing and having a good time.

Yet a good time on the community or school playground can be ruined by a fall, entrapment, cut or another type of injury. Each year, about 200,000 children are treated in hospital emergency rooms for injuries related to playground equipment.

During National Playground Safety Week (April 21-25), CPSC staff is releasing an update to the popular Handbook for Public Playground Safety, which contains guidance for childcare personnel, school officials, designers, inspectors, parents and school groups on building safer playgrounds. Considered by many to be the model handbook of playground safety, the agency's guidelines for public playgrounds have been incorporated by many municipalities into local and state building codes. The handbook provides specifications for creating safer play zones and avoiding hazards with equipment such as sharp points, entrapments and entanglements.

The updated Handbook for Public Playground Safety contains new guidelines from CPSC staff for playground equipment for children as young as 6 months old, track and log rolls for older children and playground surfacing, as well as suggestions on protecting children from sun exposure on playgrounds.

CPSC offers the following tips to help prevent injuries and other hazards on public and home playgrounds:

• Always supervise children on play equipment to make sure they are safe.
• Purchase playground equipment that meets the latest safety standards.
• Maintain at least 9 inches of protective surfacing, including shredded/recycled rubber, wood chips, wood mulch (non-CCA treated), sand or pea gravel under and around playground equipment to cushion children from falls.
• Check that protective surfacing extends at least 6 feet in all directions from play equipment. For swings, extend protective surfacing in front and back of the swing twice the height of the suspending bar.
• Repair sharp points or edges on equipment. Replace missing hardware and close "S" hooks that can cause injuries.
• Never attach ropes, jump ropes, clotheslines, pet leashes or cords of any kind to play equipment due to the strangulation hazard.

To order free copies of the CPSC staff's updated Handbook for Public Playground Safety (CPSC-325); CPSC's Outdoor Home Playground Handbook (CPSC-324); Home Playground Safety Checklist (CPSC-323); or any CPSC publication, e-mail info@cpsc.gov. CPSC publications can also be downloaded at www.cpsc.gov.

You can find more information about National Playground Safety Week at www.playgroundsafety.org, the Web site for the National Program for Playground Safety. (4-23-08)

As flood waters begin to recede and residents return home, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issues a warning to those affected by the floods in the Midwest. When there's a power outage, never use portable generators inside the home, in an attached garage or in any other partially enclosed space. Generator exhaust contains high levels of colorless, odorless carbon monoxide (CO), which can kill in minutes.

Three hundred thirty-four people died from generator-related CO poisoning from 1999 to 2006. Recent data show that as use of generators has increased, so too have deaths – tragically there are about 50 per year. Many of these deaths occurred after major storms knocked out power.

The Commission provides these important life-saving tips:

Generator Safety

• Never use a portable generator indoors – including open garages, basements, crawlspaces and sheds. Opening doors and windows or using fans will not prevent CO buildup in the home.
• During use, keep portable generators outdoors and far away from open doors, windows and vents, so that CO does not build up indoors.
• If you start to feel sick, dizzy or weak while using a generator, get to fresh air right away. Exposure to CO from generators can quickly lead to incapacitation and death.
• Keep generators dry. Wait for the rain to pass before using a generator. Consumer-grade generators are not weatherproof and can pose the risk of electrocution and shock when used in wet conditions.
• Do not connect the generator directly into your home's electrical system through a receptacle outlet – this is an extremely dangerous practice that poses a fire hazard and an electrocution hazard to utility workers and neighbors served by the same transformer.
• If using a generator, plug individual appliances into heavy-duty, outdoor-rated extension cords and plug cords into the generator.

Other Precautions

• Check that the extension cords have a wire gauge adequate for the appliance loads and have all three prongs, including a grounding pin.
• Keep charcoal grills outside. Never use them indoors. Burning charcoal in an enclosed space can produce lethal levels of carbon monoxide.
• Make sure the batteries in your smoke alarm and carbon monoxide alarm are fresh. Test these alarms to make sure they are working.
• Exercise caution when using candles. Use flashlights instead. If you must use candles, do not burn them on or near anything that can catch fire. Keep burning candles away from drafts. Never leave burning candles unattended. Extinguish candles when leaving the room.

Wet Carpets and Furniture Are Dangerous to your Health

• Microorganisms may grow in these water-damaged products and may cause allergic reactions and infections. For more information, go to www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/425.html.
• Discard mattresses, wicker furniture, straw baskets and the like that have been water damaged. These cannot be recovered by washing or cleaning procedures.
• Throw out wet room-size carpets, drapes, upholstered furniture, stuffed toys, ceiling tiles and anything that can't be picked up and cleaned by dry cleaning, steam cleaning or put in a washing machine or dryer.
• Remove and replace wet insulation.

Avoid Electrical and Gas Hazards

• Look for signs that your appliances have gotten wet. Discard electrical or gas appliances that have been wet because they pose electric shock and fire hazards.
• Before using your appliances, have a professional or your gas or electric company evaluate your home and replace all gas control valves, circuit breakers and fuses that have been under water.

Dangers to Children

• Medicines and chemicals should be thrown away. Water may have infected the integrity of the medicine. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services offers additional safety tips. For more information, go to www.hhs.gov/news/broadcast/2005/CrawfordMedicationSafety.html.
• Young children and water don't mix. Watch children around buckets, tubs and standing water in and around the home. Even small amounts of water can be a drowning hazard.

(3-28-08)

At a Town Hall Meeting held at the Mall of America, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Acting Chairman Nancy Nord met with parents and consumers to listen to their concerns and talk about safety in the home. Acting Chairman Nord briefed consumers on CPSC's plan to increase staff to pursue consumer product hazards more aggressively. CPSC will be adding staff across the country, creating a new early warning system and educating foreign manufacturers about U.S. safety regulations.

"Consumer products are safer today than ever before, but when you're talking about children's safety, those statistics are little comfort," sais Acting Chairman Nord at the meeting. "I've heard from parents just like you. I've read the e-mails, and as a mother, I share your worries. So I'm here today to say we are working to do even more to keep children safe."

Acting Chairman Nord also used the occasion to comment publicly about CPSC's civil penalty against Reebok in the case of a 4-year-old Minnesota boy who died tragically after swallowing a metal charm. The $1 million settlement is a record civil penalty for a violation of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA). The FHSA bans toxic levels of accessible lead in toys and other children's products. "The agency," she said, "will pursue companies that knowingly violate the safety statutes of this country. There's no pleading ignorance when it comes to public safety." (3-18-08)

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced today that a manufacturer of athletic shoes and apparel has agreed to pay the government a $1 million civil penalty. This penalty, which has been provisionally accepted, is the largest for a Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA) violation and follows a recall announced by CPSC and Reebok of 300,000 bracelets.

The penalty settles allegations that Reebok International Ltd., of Canton, Mass., imported and distributed charm bracelets that contained toxic levels of lead. The charm bracelets were provided as free gifts with the purchase of various styles of children's footwear. In March 2006, a 4-year-old boy from Minneapolis who swallowed the bracelet's heart-shaped pendant died.

The FHSA bans toxic levels of accessible lead in toys and other children's products. CPSC's enforcement policy urges manufacturers of children's metal jewelry to keep lead content below 0.06% by weight.

"This civil penalty sends a clear message that the CPSC will not allow companies to put children's safety at risk," says CPSC Acting Chairman Nancy Nord. "Preventing dangerous metal jewelry from reaching the hands of children is a priority for our agency."

In agreeing to settle the matter, Reebok denies that it violated federal law. (3-18-08)

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) today announced an agreement with the Vietnamese government aimed at improving the safety of consumer products exported to the United States from Vietnam. The announcement coincides with a visit to Hanoi by CPSC officials, who are meeting with their government counterparts in Vietnam and conducting product safety training for Vietnamese exporters of consumer products.

The agreement between CPSC and the Directorate for Standards and Quality (STAMEQ) of the Ministry of Science and Technology calls for information and technical exchanges to implement consumer safety programs.

"Vietnam has become an increasingly important trading partner with the United States," says Acting Chairman Nord. "Working with industry and directly with government agencies in other countries, such as Vietnam, is one of the most effective ways to ensure the safety of products made abroad and intended for U.S. store shelves."

"Vietnam understands the importance of protecting the safety of consumers" says Dr. Ngo Quy Viet, Director General of STAMEQ. "Therefore, Vietnam welcomes collaboration with foreign partners, especially with those that have such an effective safety system as the United States, to improve consumer and importer confidence."

The number of imports from Vietnam to the United States has skyrocketed in recent years. According to U.S. International Trade Commission data, nearly $8.6 billion worth of products under CPSC jurisdiction came from Vietnam in 2007, a 31 percent increase from 2006.

CPSC also has signed agreements with Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, the European Commission, Egypt, India, Israel, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Peru and Taiwan to improve the safety of consumer products. (3-09-08)

Smoke alarms are proven life savers. There are more than 300,000 residential fires every year, so when there is a fire, smoke alarms buy families valuable escape time.

Unfortunately, about two-thirds of fire deaths take place in homes with no smoke alarms or with non-working smoke alarms. The most common reasons why alarms did not work were missing, disconnected or dead batteries. Consumers need to make sure that they have a working smoke alarm.

For better warning of fire, consumers should install smoke alarms on every level of the home, outside sleeping areas and inside bedrooms. Replace batteries annually, and test the smoke alarms monthly. A good time to remember to replace batteries is when turning clocks ahead for daylight saving time on Sunday, March 9, 2008.

When shopping for smoke alarms, consumers should be aware of the two different types of smoke alarms: ionization and photoelectric. While both types are effective smoke sensors, ionization type detectors respond quickly to flaming fires, while photoelectric type detectors respond sooner to smoldering fires. Since consumers can't predict what types of fires might break out, CPSC staff recommends installing both ionization and photoelectric type smoke alarms throughout the home for the best warning of a fire. This recommendation is also supported by the United States Fire Administration, the National Fire Protection Association, Underwriters Laboratories and by research conducted by the National Institute for Standards and Technology. There are also dual sensor smoke alarms that have both ionization and photoelectric sensors in one unit.

Consumers should also consider interconnected smoke alarms. Interconnected alarms are connected to each other by a hard wire or by wireless technology. If one alarm is triggered, all interconnected alarms in the home sound, alerting consumers to the fire earlier.

Many residential fires are preventable. CPSC recommends consumers follow these safety steps:

• Never leave cooking equipment unattended.
• Have a professional inspect home heating, cooling and water appliances annually.
• Inspect electrical cords for signs of wear, cracks or age, and keep lighting away from combustibles.
• Use caution with candles, lighters, matches and smoking materials near upholstered furniture, mattresses and bedding. Keep matches and lighters out of reach of young children.
• Have a fire escape plan and practice it so family members know what to do and where to meet if there's a fire in the home. Children and the elderly may sleep through or not react to the sound of the smoke alarm, so parents and caregivers should adjust their fire escape plan to help them escape the house in the event of a fire.

Visit www.FireSafety.gov for fire safety information from CPSC and other federal agencies. (3-07-08)

A warm bath, lullaby and bedtime stories are staples in your child's nighttime routine. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) urges parents and caregivers to add a safe sleep environment to the daily routine of placing baby to sleep.

CPSC staff is aware of 97 crib-related deaths from 2002 through 2004.

A CPSC staff analysis of reports of deaths related to cribs found that about half of the deaths were in cribs containing pillows, quilts and other bedding. About half of these were due to suffocation when infants ended up face down on pillows or face down in a crib with pillows, quilts and other bedding.

Thirty percent of crib deaths were attributed to entrapment between components of old cribs that were in bad condition, with broken or missing parts or loose hardware, and entrapment in spaces generated between the sides of a crib and an ill-fitted mattress. The remainder of the deaths were associated with accessories situated in/around the crib (such as window cords or curtain tie backs), falls out of cribs, alterations made to cribs or entrapment when the child became wedged between the crib and other furniture or a wall.

As CPSC works to remove defective products from the marketplace, parents and caregivers are being asked to take action as well.

The CPSC is urging parents:

• To reduce the risk of SIDS and suffocation, place Baby to sleep on his or her back in a crib that meets current safety standards.
• To prevent suffocation never use a pillow as a mattress for Baby to sleep on or to prop Baby's head or neck.
• Infants can strangle to death if their bodies pass through gaps generated between loose components, broken slats and other parts of the crib and their head and neck become entrapped in the space. Do not use old, broken or modified cribs; regularly tighten hardware to keep sides firm.
• Infants can suffocate in spaces generated between the sides of the crib and an ill-fitted mattress; never allow a gap larger than two fingers at any point between the sides of the crib and the mattress.
• Never place a crib near a window with blind or curtain cords; infants can strangle on curtain or blind cords.
• Properly set up play yards according to manufacturers' directions. Only use the mattress provided with the play yard. Do not add extra mattresses, pillows or cushions to the play yard, which can cause a suffocation hazard for infants.
• Routinely check nursery products against CPSC recall lists and remove recalled products from your home.

(2-29-08)

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted unanimously (2-0) to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) on a new mandatory standard to address residential upholstered furniture fires.

The goal of the proposed standard is to prevent ignition or slow the spread and intensity of upholstered furniture fires. These fires cost the United States about $1.6 billion each year. CPSC staff estimates the proposed standard, once fully effective, would prevent an estimated 100 deaths and 130 injuries every year.

"Fires involving upholstered furniture are a leading cause of fire-related deaths in U.S. homes," says CPSC Acting Chairman Nancy Nord. "Stopping a furniture fire in its tracks or slowing its spread would buy consumers precious time to get out of their homes."

Under the proposal, manufacturers could meet the performance standard by using smolder-resistant cover fabrics or interior fire resistant barriers to protect the furniture's internal filling material, which is the primary fuel in an upholstered furniture fire.

The CPSC's objective is to reduce the fire risk in upholstered furniture without requiring the use of fire-retardant chemicals. Manufacturers will not be required to use chemicals to meet the proposed standard. In its environmental assessment, CPSC staff projects most manufacturers and importers would likely choose options that do not involve fire retardants in fabrics or filling materials.

"CPSC is now on track to develop a mandatory safety rule that will save lives and protect consumers," Acting Chairman Nord says.

An NPR is the second step in the agency's three-step rulemaking process. (2-02-08)

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has announced that a Missouri-based manufacturer of trampolines has agreed to pay the government a $105,000 civil penalty. The penalty settles allegations that Stamina Products, of Springfield, Mo., failed to report in a timely manner injuries from defective mini-trampolines. In April 2006, CPSC and Stamina Products announced the recall of about 668,000 mini-trampolines.

Between April 2002 and June 2005, Stamina Products received eight reports from consumers who alleged that the trampoline sprang back during the folding/unfolding process causing facial lacerations that required stitches, broken teeth, bruises, headaches, neck pain, broken facial bones, loss of mouth sensation and blurred vision. Stamina Products failed to report these incidents to the CPSC in a timely manner. CPSC was finally informed of the incidents in July 2005.

Federal law requires firms to report to CPSC within 24 hours after obtaining information that a product contains a defect that could create a substantial product hazard, or creates an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death.

In agreeing to settle the matter, Stamina Products denies that it violated federal law. (1-22-08)