Something to be thankful for—a safe holiday

When you go over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house this Thanksgiving, take some safety tips along. The holiday offers a bounty of safety challenges resulting from a combination of traveling, cooking and visiting unfamiliar surroundings with kids in tow. But since most of us wouldn't have it any other way, we'd like to serve up some reminders on ways to make the holiday weekend a safe one.

On the road
This time of year the roads are busier, making travel more risky, especially if you have to drive through the white and drifted snow (oh!)  The holiday season between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve is one the most dangerous on the roads, due to a high incidence of alcohol-related traffic crashes, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

Before you hit the road, make sure your car is properly maintained and equipped. Some areas of the country have already experienced a first snow storm—or two—so refresh your winter driving skills. The Automobile Association of American also has some good ways to vaccinate your car against the cold.

If the car is going to be packed with kids, food and luggage, make sure you pack it safely. Parents of children eight and younger who may be traveling through other states, should check the booster and car seat laws in those states to make sure you comply. Laws vary from state to state. All occupants should follow the advice in the public service ad: "Cluck, cluck, Buckle up."

If you get lost along the way and need to check directions, pull over before talking on your cell phone or texting for help. Both are dangerous practices that take your eyes off the road. And in many states you can be fined. A GPS may be of help, but only if it's not obscuring your vision or causing a distraction.

If a flat tire, mechanical breakdown, or empty fuel tank forces you to stop driving, pull your vehicle as far off of the road as safely possible and call for help. If you are traveling a long distance, you should prepare your own roadside emergency kit.

Away from home
Parents of small children may want to check with their hosts beforehand to make sure that breakables and other hazards have been removed from common areas. But just to be sure, here are some quick ways to childproof other people's homes when you arrive.

If you are staying the night, either there or in a hotel, make sure your child has a safe sleeping environment. Not all cribs and playyards are safe and you should never place your baby on an air mattress to sleep.

In the kitchen
The risk of cooking fires doubles on Thanksgiving, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Too often cooks get distracted by arriving guests or other demands and leave food unattended instead of turning off the burner. Stove tipovers are another kitchen hazard and can occur when a turkey is placed on an open oven door causing the range to topple forward.

And as we've reported here before, Thanksgiving plans can go up in flames when things go awry with a propane-powered deep fryer. (See video)

Foodborne illnesses don't take a holiday just because we do. When you are cooking your turkey, use a meat thermometer to make sure it reaches a temperature high enough to kill bacteria. And remember to keep your cooking surfaces clean to avoid cross-contaminating foods. Here's the 411 on foodborne illness.

We hope these warnings haven't ruined your appetite. As the old song goes, Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day!

This week in safety: Toys, toys, toys

Just before parents hit the stores on Black Friday—and beyond—comes news about toys from several fronts. In its 23rd annual survey of toys, U.S. PIRG advises parents to remain vigilant about what they buy their children because tougher new federal safety laws have not yet taken effect. A group called WATCH (World Against Toys Causing Harm) issued a 10 worst toys list and MSN questions whether toys have become safer and features a photo gallery of all the toys recalled this year.

Trouble in Toyland: The 23rd annual survey of toy safety
U.S. PIRG
The recall of 45 million toys and other children’s products in 2007 and continued recalls in 2008 reminded Americans that no government agency tests toys before they are put on the shelves. Read more ...

2008 '10 worst toys' list
W.A.T.C.H.
W.A.T.C.H.'s—World Against Toys Causing Harm—annual "10 Worst Toys" list nominates representative toys with the potential to cause childhood injuries, or even death. Read more ...

Bad toys: What went wrong with recalled toys?
MSN
Nothing sucks the joy out of holiday toy shopping like a fresh batch of gruesome safety warnings. But 'tis the season when "choking hazard," "chemical burn risk" and the classic "violation of lead paint standard" dance in parents' heads. Read more ...

• Gallery of recalled toys

Toys with phthalates can be sold after U.S. ban takes effect
USA Today
Stores may continue selling plastic toys made with hormone-like chemicals next year, even after a law that was supposed to ban them takes effect, according to a legal decision from the federal agency that oversees consumer safety. Read more ...

Vendors urge relaxed lead-safety rule
The Wall Street Journal
Before new laws even take effect, manufacturers and retailers of children's products are asking the government to relax a requirement that they stop selling any inventory that doesn't meet tough new lead standards, beginning Feb. 10. Read more ...

BPA leaches from 'safe' products
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Products marketed for infants or billed as "microwave safe" release toxic doses of the chemical bisphenol A when heated, an analysis by the Journal Sentinel has found. The newspaper had the containers of 10 items tested in a lab. Read more ...

Keep bathroom chemicals locked up
U.S. News
If you are expecting little visitors over the holidays, the bathroom may be full of potential dangers and temptations. Here are suggestions to prevent little hands from getting into bathroom chemicals or medications. Read more ...

Counterfeit holiday lights pose hazards for consumers
International Business Times
Counterfeit Christmas lights—including those with fake Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. (UL) labels—pose a threat to consumers for their potential inability to meet electrical safety and fire codes. The traditional holiday decorations are part of the rapidly growing crime of counterfeit electrical products. Read more ...

Don't miss these recalls

• 7,000 Century Cookware stainless steel stockpots (burn hazard)
• 24,000 pairs Arizona newborn and infant denim pants (JC Penney) (choking hazard)
• 20,000 bottles DuPont Heavy Duty Acidic Cleaner (skin irritation)
• 365,000 Target dive sticks (impalement hazard)

CU 'deeply concerned' about reports of FDA finding melamine contamination in U.S. formula

Consumers Union is deeply concerned about news reports that FDA has found traces of melamine and cyanuric acid in U.S. infant formula. Melamine is a chemical that has a number of industrial uses and is a common ingredient in some plastic products, but is not approved as an ingredient in human food in the U.S.

It is not clear, absent a Freedom of Information Act request by The Associated Press, whether the FDA would have released this information to the public. “Consumers Union calls on the FDA to immediately make public all of the results of its tests for melamine contamination in food, even if the only contamination detected was below the agency’s action level of 2.5 parts per million,” said Jean Halloran, Director of Food Policy Initiatives for Consumers Union. “We understand that the FDA has tested hundreds of samples for melamine. This information should be made available to consumers, who are no doubt concerned for themselves and their families,” added Halloran.

Learn more about this topic and CU's recommendations for overhauling the FDA.

New pool safety law goes into effect this holiday season

If you’re hoping to escape news of the sad economy by, well, escaping, be aware that your vacation checklist should include one extra detail: Is the hotel pool up to date? New standards for swimming pools and spas go into effect in December, with the aim of preventing some of the hundreds of annual drowning deaths. Drowning is the second leading accidental cause of death in children 1 to 14.

Starting December 19 (or when the pool opens for the season), the Consumer Product Safety Commission will require all public pools to have safer drain covers or systems that reduce the chance of entrapment. This includes pools at hotels and apartment buildings, so if you’re visiting the grandparents in Florida for the holidays, their condo pool will have to be up to snuff as well.

Before you book a room at a U.S. hotel, call and ask the general manager or hotel engineer whether the pool has been brought up to code, and when. He or she should be able to tell you specifically that the drain systems conform to the new standards.

670,000 window blinds recalled from Ikea after strangulation of child

Additional recall of 7,300 roller shades after near-strangulation; available from multiple retailers

It’s hard to comprehend how something as seemingly innocent as window treatments can be so deadly to children. But two recalls announced today remind us that they are. 

The larger of the two involves 670,000 Iris and Alvine Roman blinds sold in the U.S. (and another 4.8 million sold outside the U.S.) by Ikea. In April, a one-year-old girl strangled to death when she became entangled in the inner cord of one of these blinds. 

They came in white, and were sold in a range of sizes at Ikea stores nationwide from July 2005 through June 2008. They have a sewn-in label on the top edge that says “Ikea” and either “Iris” or “Alvine,” as well as the number 19799 or 21369. Return these immediately to Ikea for a full refund. You can call the company at (888) 966-4532 for more information, or log on to www.ikea-usa.com. 

The second recall involves 7,300 black-out roller shades and insulated Roman shades made by Green Mountain Vista. The shades come with a looped bead chain that, if not attached to the wall or floor, hangs loosely. In June, a two-year-old girl nearly strangled to death when she put the looped chain around her neck and then slipped off the radiator where she was standing. Her five-year-old brother rescued her. She suffered deep neck bruising. 

The roller shades and Roman shades were sold nationwide from June 2005 through September 2008 at Country Curtains, Plow & Hearth, The Linen Source, Sturbridge Yankee Workshop, Ann & Hope, The Sportsman’s Guide, Target.com, The Curtain Shop of Maine, and Solutions Catalog. The range of sizes and colors is listed here. The shades have the number 107875 printed on the care label. 

This product came with a tension device that secures loose cords to the wall or window frame. If you didn’t install that when you put up the blinds, you can get a free replacement by calling (800) 639-1728 or sending an email to office @gmvista.com. 

With the holidays upon us, undecorating is the last thing anyone wants to do, but taking down dangerous blinds could save a life. If you have any shades or blinds in your home, check that cords are safely out of the reach of children. The CPSC has information here (PDF) and the Window Covering Safety Council has more here. 

Remember, too, that where you place a crib or playpen factors into its safety. Consumer Reports has tips for safe use and placement here.

This week in safety

Where do recalled toys and cribs go? That concern was in the news this week as regulators and safety advocates discussed ways to make sure dangerous items don't end up on the secondhand market. And with tougher federal safety regulations about to take effect, retailers are scrambling to keep banned toys and other products off their shelves. We were also amused by an item on cart washes—yes that's cart with a 't'—that disinfect grocery carts between uses.

New crib-safety law presents possible problem for eBay, other sites
CQ Politics
EBay Inc. has been teaming up with regulators to remove online auctions of potentially unsafe cribs, but eBay itself could become a target if the government proceeds with rules to hold online markets liable for sales of outlawed cribs. Read more ...

End of toy story: Where do lead-tainted toys go?
The Christian Science Monitor
The biggest problem with the recall of millions of lead-tainted toys over the last few years has been getting shops and consumers to comply. According to Mattel, which has issued dozens of recalls in recent years (including some 2.2 million Chinese-made toys contaminated with lead paint), historically only about 6 percent of recalled toys are returned. Read more ...

Toy regulations affect direct retailer
DM News
Toy catalog and Internet retailers are scrambling to meet deadlines for new regulations from the Consumer Product Safety Commission regarding the banning of lead and phthalates in toys, as well as how they inform consumers about toy safety warnings. Read more ...

Taking the gross out of grocery cart
The Wall Street Journal
When Brad Blaine grabbed a cart on a recent run to the Chevy Chase Supermarket in suburban Maryland, he noticed it was a little moist. He was puzzled, he says, until he figured out that the cart had been pushed through a sort of car wash for shopping carts—a hut set up at the store that mists a disinfecting peroxide solution onto carts as they're pushed through. Read more ...

Senator Klobuchar announces new carbon monoxide legislation    
KSAX TV (ABC News)
Proposed federal legislation would build on a new Minnesota law requiring carbon monoxide detectors in every single-family home, Senator Amy Klobuchar announced at St. Paul's Fire Station 8. Klobuchar's proposal builds on Minnesota's new state law which requires all single-family homes to have working CO detectors within ten feet of all sleeping areas. Read more ...

Two more Yamaha Rhino victims sue over injuries
NewsInferno.com
The Yamaha Rhino utility terrain vehicle (UTV) is the subject of two more personal injury lawsuits.  Plaintiffs in both lawsuits allege that the Yamaha Rhino contains multiple design flaws rendering it dangerously unstable and unduly prone to tipping and rolling over. Just last week, it was learned that federal safety officials were investigating the Yamaha Rhino, which has been linked to 30 deaths. Read more ...

Around the CR Blogs

• Electronics: Apple's bloated batteries
• Health: CR food labeling poll reveals safety concerns
• Baby&Kids: Infant gas-relief drops recalled

Don't miss these recalls

• 18,000 My Little Train Classics (choking hazard)
• 13,000 Honda off-road competition motorcycles (weld failure)
• 130 Swim 'N Score dive stick sets (impalement)
• 8,000 Cobra children's two way radios (chemical burns)
• Two lots of Nestlé Nesquik Strawberry Powder (foreign materials)

FDA to block Chinese milk products at U.S. border

The Food and Drug Administration today announced that it would be detaining at the border a wide range of Chinese products containing dairy ingredients until tests show they are not contaminated. The alert, which affects foods ranging from chocolates and candies to drinks and pet food, comes in the wake of the discovery in September that formula and other foods made from milk had been contaminated with the chemical melamine.

It is unusual for the FDA to take such a sweeping measure targeting imports from an entire country but the agency said the precaution was necessary to make sure that contaminated goods did not enter our food system. "The problem of melamine contamination in Chinese food products is a recurring one," said the FDA order, posted on the FDA's Web site.

Essentially, as the Associated Press reported, the FDA action shifts the burden of proof to Chinese companies, which must now supply evidence that their products are safe. 

Since September, more than 50,000 infants in China have become ill, 13,000 have been hospitalized and at least four have died after consuming tainted infant formula.  In the past two months, melamine has been found in a range of products, including milk, eggs and fish feed. Companies in the United States have recalled several products, including nondairy creamer and a type of candy primarily sold in Asian markets, because of melamine concerns. For a full list of recalled items, check the list on the agency's Web site.

As we've written here before, unscrupulous milk producers add melamine to watered-down milk to artificially boost the apparent protein content. The U.S. does not import milk or infant formula from China, and no illnesses have been reported here. But authorities from California to Connecticut have found melamine-contaminated candies and drinks during inspections at Asian groceries.

Safety standards for juvenile products under scrutiny

I recently spent several days at a series of meetings (23 in all) held by ASTM-International on safety standards for juvenile products. From cradles to cribs, voluntary standards for juvenile products are developed by ASTM committees made up mostly of manufacturers, testing laboratories, government agencies, and consumer groups.

As you can imagine, consumer organizations—Consumers Union, Kids in Danger, the Consumer Federation of America and Keeping Babies Safe, among others—are outnumbered by manufacturing groups, whose members often make it difficult to develop the strongest safety standards. Still, we put up a good fight.

Developing standards can be an exacting and tedious process. Engineers (like me) can get bogged down in long discussions about proper sentence structure or converting metric to English measurement units. Sometimes that delays us from tackling the more substantive issues, like how to improve a product so it doesn’t hurt kids. The juvenile-products committees meet only twice a year, so working out a new standard can take years. When a standard is finally passed, manufacturers can still choose not to follow it—remember, it’s voluntary.

That could all change. The recently passed Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act requires the Consumer Products Safety Commission to evaluate the effectiveness of the voluntary standards for 12 categories of juvenile products: bassinets and cradles, cribs (including portable cribs), play yards, toddler beds, highchairs (including booster seats and hook-on chairs), infant carriers, bath seats, safety gates and enclosures, walkers, stationary activity centers, strollers and swings. The CPSC may then either adopt the voluntary standards as written, or make them tougher. The agency plans to start with baby walkers and bath seats, then develop regulations for two additional categories every six months.

Before the CPSC reviews voluntary ASTM standards to determine whether they should become mandatory, we think it’s important that the current voluntary standards be as strong and effective as possible. Anyone who has an interest in developing standards can join ASTM International and help. You don’t need to be an engineer, just someone who cares about safety. Parents whose children have been hurt or killed by unsafe products are often the strongest advocates for improved safety standards.—Don Mays

Colleges and universities graded on fire safety

The Princeton Review's ratings of colleges and universities on fire prevention and preparedness gives new meaning to the term "safe" school.  The rating measures how well prepared a school is to prevent or respond to campus fires, specifically in residence halls, according to the Princeton Review's 2009 edition of "The Complete Book of Colleges."

Schools are given a score between 60 and 99 based on the answers to eight questions developed in consultation with the Center for Campus Fire Safety. Questions concern the number of dorm rooms with sprinklers and smoke detectors as well as the number of malicious fire alarms reported at the school and whether it bans hazardous items or activities such as candles and smoking, among other queries. Schools that do not respond are given the lowest score of 60* (60 with an asterisk).

Schools that earned a top score of 99 this year are: Adelphi University, Bay Path College, Bentley College, California State University at Stanislaus, Cazenovia College, College of Mount St. Joseph, Kean University, Mountain State University, Neumann College, Suffolk University, The College of Saint Rose, and the University of Oklahoma.

According to the Center for Campus Fire Safety, 94 people have died in 66 separate campus related fires since 2000. Of these,

• 54 occurred in off-campus housing claiming 76 victims;
• 6 occurred in on-campus building or residence halls claiming 8 victims;
• 6 occurred in Greek housing claiming 10 victims.

The causes of the 66 fires:

• 14 were intentionally set, claiming 22 victims;
• 29 were accidental, including cooking, candles, smoking or electrical, claiming 38 victims;
• 23 were of undetermined cause or information on the cause was not available. Those fires claimed 34 victims.

One of the worst campus fires in recent memory occurred in January 2000 in a dormitory at New Jersey's Seton Hall University. Three students were killed in that blaze and 58 others were injured, some critically. Three years later two men were arrested and charged with setting the fire as a prank. As tragic as the fire was, it had at least one positive outcome when New Jersey enacted the country's first mandatory residence hall sprinkler law.

This fall high school seniors are touring campuses and getting their applications in order. Among all the scores to consider, parents would be wise to review the school's fire safety rating and to teach their student some fire safety tips as well.  Here is how the Princeton Review ranked five well-known schools on a scale of 60 to 99. Find more ratings at the Princeton Review.

• Cornell University—72
• Northwestern University—72
• University of California at Los Angeles—86
• United States Military Academy—86
• Stanford University—83

New safety legislation bans chemical found in soft plastics

It’s not just lead-laden toys that will soon be banned from store shelves. The recently signed Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) also prohibits the use of certain dangerous phthalates in children’s products.

Phthalates are a group of chemicals that may pose long-term risks to the development of the reproductive and endocrine systems that regulate a child's metabolism and hormone functions. Phthalates are commonly used as a plastic softener.

Beginning on February 10, 2009, the CPSIA permanently bans the use of three phthalates in children’s toys and child care articles: DEHP, DBP, and BBP. Three more phthalates, DINP, DIDP, and DnOP, will also be banned, albeit temporarily, from children’s toys that can be placed in a child’s mouth and from child care articles. “Child care articles” are those products designed or intended to facilitate the sleep or feeding of children age three or younger, or to help such children with sucking or teething.

Consumer Affairs reported recently that toys made from the soon-to-be-banned plastic are flooding the toy market as retailers rush to rid their shelves of the products. Thus leaving parents in a quandary as it is difficult to tell which toys contain phthalates and which don't. Some of the larger retailers have said they are clearing their shelves of the offending products.

The CPSIA also requires the creation of a Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel to assess the safety on the health of children and pregnant women of all phthalates and phthalate alernatives used in children’s products. If the panel determines that these or other phthalates are sufficiently dangerous, they will be permanently banned.

Phthalates  have been found in some household and children’s items, including soft-plastic toys, baby lotions, and perfumes. Research has shown that phthalates can damage the reproductive and endocrine systems, especially when the exposure occurs during infancy. Such “endocrine disruptors” have been linked to increased instances of early puberty, infertility, and endometriosis. The European Union banned DEHP, DBP, and BBP from all children’s toys in 1999, and banned DINP, DIDP, and DnOP from children’s products that are typically “mouthed.”

Although Consumers Union applauds the passage of the CPSIA, we are concerned by the narrow provisions of the interim ban. Like the European Union’s ruling nine years ago, the CPSIA only restricts DINP, DIDP, and DnOP from children’s toys that can be placed in a child’s mouth, such as pacifiers and rubber nipples. Of course, babies and children cannot distinguish between a product that is intended for mouthing and one that is not. Most products in a baby’s hand will likely make it into her mouth to be sucked on, chewed, or tasted.

We urge the CPSC to broadly interpret this ban and restrict phthalate content for any toy that could fit in a child’s mouth.—Reported by Alex Chasick