Population declines on the Island of Misfit Toys

We won’t soon forget the millions upon millions of defective toys recalled in 2008 and 2007 due to lead hazards that can cause developmental problems, small magnets that can block or perforate intestines, and toxic chemicals that can put kids in comas. Consumers, as well as Consumers Union, lost confidence in the safety of toys in the marketplace. But a few items in the news recently gives us hope that things are turning around in Toyland.

At a town-hall style meeting in New York City's Times Square,  Inez Tenenbaum, Chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, hailed the significant reduction in toy recalls this year. So far there have been 38 toy recalls, down from 162 in 2008 and 148 in 2007. Tenenbaum attributed the decline to increased enforcement at the ports, cooperation with other countries, consumer awareness and education, and compliance by the toy industry with new federal safety rules.

The new rules have tightened restrictions on lead, made formerly voluntary toy-safety standards mandatory, and required that toys for children under 12 be tested and certified before they're sold. “CPSC has worked hard this year to give parents and grandparents greater confidence that the toys they seek to purchase have enhanced safety protections for children,” said Tenenbaum. We agree.

Another factor that could boost consumer confidence is the Toy Industry Association’s Toy Safety Certification Program. Launched last month, the program adds an extra level of scrutiny to make sure toys are manufactured to comply with safety standards. Qualifying toys will eventually bear a safety certification mark. Although we don’t think the program requires enough randomized sampling of the final product, it’s a start. This week the association announced the first products that have been certified under the program including a Radio Flyer push toy.    
 
The third piece of toy news this week wasn't so cheery. The CPSC's annual report on toy-related deaths and injuries showed that toy-associated injuries are on the rise while fatalities have dropped over the past few years. There were 172,700 toy-related injuries that sent children under 15 to the nation's emergency rooms in 2008. That’s the highest injury level since 2001. But the number of fatalities for children under 15 has declined to 19 from 28 in 2006 and 22 in 2007, according to information the CPSC has collected so far.

With the busiest toy-buying season upon us, it's good to know that care is being taken to ensure that what's on the shelves is safe.—Don Mays

Fires and burns prompt recall of 665,000 Perfect Flame grills sold at Lowe's

After reports of fires and some injuries, Perfect Flame has recalled its SLG series of grills -- totaling 665,000 grills sold at Lowe’s retail outlets nationwide over the past four years. Perfect Flame has received about 40 reports of fires from the burners deteriorating and about 23 reports of the lids catching fire. The company is aware of one report of an eye injury requiring surgery and 21 incidents of minor burns to the hands, arms or face.

After writing about these grills in August 2008, we have been hearing from readers about their problems with Perfect Flame grills and have taken our concerns to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Today we'd like to get the word out on the recall but we'll be weighing in with more information in the coming days.

This recall includes 10 model numbers with the years 2006, 2007 and 2008 in the model number. (See the recall notice for the full list.) According to the notice, the burners can deteriorate causing irregular flames and the lids of some models can catch fire, posing fire and burn hazards to the consumer.

The CPSC is advising owners to stop using the grills. Perfect Flame is offering owners replacement lids and/or burners, depending on the model. Grill owners should contact the company at (888) 840-9590  or visit www.lowes.com for more information.

Based on the comments from our readers who have had a variety of good and bad experiences trying to get their damaged grills replaced, we'll be interested to see how the company handles this recall.

Animal-shaped outlet covers are a real dog

A concerned grandfather wrote to us recently to say that the family of his "toddler granddaughter" had been given some animal-shaped outlet covers that he suspected were more of a hazard than an effective childproofing device. The multi-colored plastic plugs "certainly would seem to be attractive to a toddler," he wrote. He also expressed concern about the package labeling that warned "Choking hazard, small parts."

Indeed, to the average adult, electric outlets seem mundane, but those mysterious slots in the wall are fascinating and dangerous to babies and small children. Our analysis of data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission indicates that there have been an estimated 8,000 electrical injuries to young children from 2000 to 2007 related to electrical outlets.  Many incidents involved small children sticking bobby pins, keys, fingers and toys into outlets. Fortunately, most of the consequences were minor electrical burns to the hands and fingers.

The American Academy of Pediatrics advises parents to use plug protectors for all wall outlets. So any product that covers those outlets would seem like a good idea, right? Not always.

Colors and shapes that attract little ones can have exactly the wrong result. Instead of keeping kids away from outlets, the bright, appealing figures of the DCI Product/Decor Craft Inc. animal safety covers described by our reader may tempt children to tug them out, creating both a shock hazard and a choking hazard.

We found the safety covers very easy to remove from some electrical outlets.  Even if your child couldn’t manage to pull the cover out herself, an adult could inadvertently forget to reinstall the outlet protector after, say, charging a cell phone. The cute shape and brilliant color could beckon a curious toddler.

In the past, we have rated other outlet protectors that were small enough to be choking hazards as Not Acceptable. These animal-shaped plugs may pose more of a hazard because they look like toys.

Our take:  We think the DCI Products Animal Plug Safety Covers present a risk to children and shouldn’t be sold. There are better ways to protect your children. For example, we've seen a spring-loaded outlet cover that is easy enough to use by adults but hard for children to negotiate.  -- Sue Booth

Jon minus Kate tempts fate

You’d think that a guy who thrives on attention would seek a bit less of it when he’s doing something unsafe. Especially when it also endangers his children. But no. Jon Gosselin, star of TV’s former reality show "Jon and Kate Plus Eight," didn’t seem the least bit concerned about putting one of his five-year-olds on an ATV. The fact that 20 percent of those killed by ATVs and 30 percent of those injured are kids must have escaped him.
 
Gosselin risked having his son become one of the 40,000 kids who are sent to emergency rooms each year in accidents related to ATVs. Plus, neither the elder nor the younger Gosselin was wearing essential safety gear—a helmet.
 
Children under 16 should not be riding on adult ATVs. Anyone who rides an ATV should don a helmet. And guess what single-rider ATVs were designed for. Yes, a single rider. That means one. 
 

To read more about the safest way to use ATVs, see the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s dedicated Web site.

Photo: INFPhoto.com

This week in safety: Buggy recall hits bumps abroad

After recalling one million umbrella strollers in the U.S. earlier this week, Maclaren took a lot of heat for the way it handled the recall overseas where it also sells strollers—or pushchairs as they're called in England.

"The British company founded in 1965 by Owen Finlay Maclaren, the inventor of the “umbrella-fold” buggy, told non-Americans they would be treated differently," reported the Financial Times. "Instead of a formal product recall, it was simply issuing warnings to owners not to let children stick their fingers in the folding mechanism as they opened the pushchairs. Repair kits to cover the hinges would not be automatically dispatched to every Maclaren owner, as in the U.S."

And that was a glaring example of how not to handle a recall, wrote John Gapper on his business blog. Lessons learned in this recall, he wrote, are: Be prepared, empathize, be polite and don't discriminate.

The U.S. recall was made following reports of 12 fingertip amputations here. Since then there have been reports of at least two amputations in England, according to The Independent newspaper.

We will continue to watch and report on the Maclaren recall. Also in the news this week:

Five of the craziest Chinese drywall stories we've heard
Popular Mechanics
Almost a year after news began breaking about bizarre happenings related to Chinese drywall, numerous questions remain unanswered. There is no consensus on a remediation strategy, on who will compensate homeowners for damage or even on the specific chemical culprit causing the problems. Despite the lack of definitive answers, the investigation so far certainly hasn't come up short on strange anecdotes. Read more ...

E. coli outbreak traced to company that halted testing of ground beef
The New York Times
A deadly outbreak of E. coli has been traced to a large producer of ground beef that stopped testing its ingredients years ago under pressure from beef suppliers. A facility in Ashville, N.Y., owned by the company, AFA Foods, recalled more than 500,000 pounds of ground beef on Oct. 31 after it was linked to an outbreak that has killed two people and sickened an estimated 500 others. Read more ...

Each year, more than 20,000 children are injured by shopping carts
The Kansan
Falls from shopping carts are among the leading causes of head injuries in young children, with one- and two-year-olds having the highest incidents of shopping cart-related injuries in the U.S. While the shopping cart might seem like the safest place for a child in the store, simple safety precautions are necessary to ensure a quick trip for groceries does not end in injury. Read more ...

Which cities are the safest for pedestrians?
The Christian Science Monitor
Some of the most dangerous places to walk or ride a bicycle in America are in the South—in fast-growing metropolitan areas that have built their streets mainly for automobiles. In fact, four of the five worst metro areas for walking or biking are in Florida: Orlando-Kissimmee, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Miami-Fort Lauderdale and Jacksonville. The other metro area in this group of five is Memphis, Tenn. Read more ...

Beyond Nokia chargers: A brief history of recent technology recalls
Network World
While there are plenty of products customers probably wish had been recalled (OK, it's time to stop piling on Windows Vista), Nokia's recall Monday of millions of faulty cell phone chargers got us thinking about other recent technology recalls. Read more ...

Toyota is sued over concerns of sudden acceleration
The Los Angeles Times
A lawsuit filed this week by two Los Angeles County residents claims that the majority of Toyota and Lexus vehicles made since 2001 contain defective components that can cause unintended acceleration. Read more ...

Don't miss these recalls

• 85,000 Homelite backpack blowers (leaking gas tanks)
• 115,000 Gehl’s HOT TOP2 nacho cheese and chili sauce dispensers (fire and burn hazard)
• 13,000 Gander Mountain hang-on fixed position treestands (fall hazard)
• 6,400 Easton Sports bicycles with EA30 stems (fall hazard)

Fingertip amputations prompt recall of 1 million Maclaren strollers

After getting reports of 12 fingertip amputations, Maclaren USA is recalling one million strollers, which includes every umbrella stroller of that brand sold in the U.S. for the past 10 years. The amputations occurred when the children got their fingers caught in the stroller’s hinge mechanism. According to Maclaren, at the time of the incidents the children were outside the stroller and a parent or caregiver was either opening it or folding it up. 
 
The strollers were sold at Babies 'R' Us, Target, and other juvenile product and mass merchandise retailers from 1999 through November 2009 for between $100 and $360. The recall involves all Maclaren single and double umbrella strollers including Volo, Triumph, Quest Sport, Quest Mod, Techno XT, TechnoXLR, Twin Triumph, Twin Techno and Easy Traveller.
 
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is advising owners of the strollers to stop using them and to contact Maclaren to receive a free repair kit—a zippered fabric cover that prevents a child from inserting his or her finger into the hinges.  Maclaren can be contacted at 877-688-2326 or by visiting the firm’s Web site at www.maclaren.us/recall.

Although all Maclaren strollers are certified by the Juvenile Product Manufacturers Associations to meet ASTM-International’s voluntary safety standard for strollers, we found a loophole in the standard. The standard addresses scissoring, shearing and pinching, but it only applies to situations where the stroller is in the manufacturer’s recommended use position—meaning unfolded with the hinges locked in place—to prevent injury to the occupant. Consumers Union, which sits on ASTM’s stroller committee, will work to close that loophole in the future.
 
Strollers are first on the list of nursery products that cause injury to children under age five.  A report issued last week by the CPSC reported 12,400 hospital treated injuries related to strollers and carriages in 2008.
 
Our Take: When using any stroller, make sure to keep your child well away while you are unfolding or folding it. Double check to make sure all locks are fully engaged and the harness system buckled before taking your child out for a stroll.—Don Mays

This week in safety: More about the Toyota investigation

Our car team reported this week that the investigation into the Toyota/Lexus sudden acceleration, which prompted the largest recall in the company’s history to remove floor mats that could interfere with the accelerator pedal, isn’t over yet.

While the debate goes on, our car guys have been busy at the test track. They advise that whatever the cause of unintended acceleration, the best defense is to know how to safely regain control of your car should it happen to you. They wrote that putting a car in neutral might save your life. And their latest tests show that pumping the brakes at full throttle can make a bad problem even worse, as demonstrated in this video from ABC News. Read more about this issue on our Cars blog.

More safety news
Salmonella victims angry over no prosecutions
MSNBC.com
At the height of the nationwide salmonella outbreak nearly a year ago, FBI agents raided two peanut plants and carried away boxes of evidence. FDA inspectors found roaches, mold and a leaky roof. Despite the fanfare over the criminal probe of one of the largest product recalls ever, no one has yet been charged in the outbreak, which was linked to hundreds of illnesses and nine deaths. Read more ...

Target, Kmart and Toys 'R' Us agree to settle lead claims
Los AngelesTimes
Three major retailers have agreed to pay nearly half a million dollars to settle a lawsuit stemming from the companies' sale of toys containing excessive amounts of lead, the California attorney general's office said. Under the agreement, Target Corp., Toys 'R' Us Inc. and Kmart would pay a total of $454,000 in civil penalties and other fines. Read more ...

FDA warns companies against marketing illegal flavored cigarettes
Food and Drug Administration
Enforcement of the flavored cigarette ban is the FDA’s effort to remove cigarettes that contain certain candy or fruit flavors from the marketplace. Removal of these products from the market will assist in the prevention of children and adolescents from starting to smoke and in the reduction in death and disease caused by smoking. Read more ...

Flammability problem with chenille garments
Product Safety Letter
Recently there have been a rash of burn injuries leading to 9 deaths due to robes made of chenille yarn. Why all of sudden do we have this unusual problem? There are possibly a number of reasons. Read more ...

Study: Increasing number of injuries from hot tubs
Science Daily
Though hot tubs, whirlpools and spas are widely used for relaxation and fun, they can pose serious risk for injury. A recent study conducted by the Center for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital found that from 1990-2007, the number of unintentional hot tub-related injuries increased by 160 percent, from approximately 2,500 to more than 6,600 injuries per year. Read more ...

Recalls of dog chewies

• Pet Carousel pig ears and beef hooves (salmonella)
• PetSmart recalls Dentley's beef hooves (salmonella)

Don's miss these recalls

• 281,800 Adventure Playsets wooden play sets (fall hazard)
• 43,000 Samsung cver-the-range microwave ovens (shock hazard)
• 15,000 Life is Good travel mugs (burn hazard)
• 10,000 MacPherson’s children’s art easels (lead paint)

The five most hazardous products for babies and toddlers

Over the past few years millions of cribs, play yards and bassinets have been recalled because they pose a hazard to children. So we weren't surprised to see these three products—along with bath seats and car seats/carriers—on the list of nursery products most hazardous to children under five.
 
The list was just released by the Consumer Product Safety Commission in its annual report  “Nursery Product-Related Injuries and Deaths Among Children under Age Five.”  The report is based on hospital-treated injuries associated with nursery products during 2008, and fatalities for those products from 2004 to 2006.  The difference between the years covered for injuries and fatalities is due to the extra time it takes to receive and analyze death certificates following a fatality.
 
If there was any good news in the report it was that the statistics remain essentially unchanged from last year.  Unfortunately, there were 247 deaths—an average of 82 per year—between the years of 2004 and 2006 and more than 63,000 estimated hospital-treated injuries associated with nursery products in 2008.

The products that accounted for the most deaths in 2004-2006 were:

1. Cribs/Mattresses 31
2. Baby Baths/Bath Seats/Bathinettes 12
3. Playpens/Play Yards 11
4. Bassinets/Cradles 11
5. Infant Carriers / Car Seat Carriers* 8 (* excludes car accidents)

Our Take: There are far too many deaths and injuries associated with theses products. Although some products can pose inherent risks, better design and tougher safety standards can help mitigate these disturbing statistics. As required by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, we look forward to the CPSC’s writing of strong regulations for these products in the future, and hope to see strict enforcement of the regulations to make sure all products in the marketplace are in compliance. —Don Mays

Industry reacts to Consumer Reports' BPA report

Consumer Reports’ recent article on the presence of Bisphenol A in canned food drew widespread interest after it was published this past week. It also quickly drew critical comments from industry groups representing companies that manufacture or use BPA, a chemical whose safety is currently being reassessed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The groups took exception to some parts of the report that found nearly all of the 19 name-brand canned foods we tested contained this chemical, which is used in the linings of most food and beverage cans. They did not dispute the test findings of the BPA levels we measured in canned food. Rather, the discussion focused on our risk assessment of the effects of BPA, which was based on the scientific literature that has become available over the past 20 years.
 
Here’s a sampling of those reactions, along with a more detailed discussion of some of the research involved in the debate:
             
1. The American Chemistry Council issued a press release contending that our experts’ recommendations, which include calling for a ban on the use of BPA in all materials that come in contact with food, is “inconsistent with the conclusions of expert regulatory bodies worldwide, all of which have confirmed that BPA exposure levels are low and well within safety standards.”

That is exactly the issue. As our story makes clear, food safety experts at Consumers Union believe federal regulatory guidelines—which are the same as those set by the European Food Safety Authority—are outdated and fail to adequately protect consumers. The FDA’s own scientific advisory board also concluded that the agency’s assessment of BPA’s safety is inadequate. Hundreds of scientific studies have shown harm in animal studies from extremely low levels of BPA—levels that are ten to twenty thousand times lower than what the FDA considered as the basis of its safety assessment in 1988. And even some human studies show a link between elevated BPA levels and harmful effects such as diabetes and cardiovascular risk. Our test results show that consumers may be exposed to potentially harmful levels of BPA that could be reached through a few or multiple servings of the canned foods we tested.

Two deaths linked to large ground beef recall

Two deaths have been linked to the recall of 545,699 pounds of fresh ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. The beef was produced by Fairbank Farms in western New York, which recalled the meat on Saturday.

The meat was packaged between September 14 and 16 and may have been labeled with a sell-by date from Sept. 19 through Sept. 28. Because those dates have passed, the meat is no longer on store shelves but health officials fear it may still be in people's freezers. The meat was distributed to retailers in eight states -- Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia -- but Fairbank Farms said on its Web site that some of its customers may have redistributed ground beef to other states.  The stores receiving the meat include ACME, BJ's, Ford Brothers, Giant Food Stores, Price Chopper, Shaw's, and Trader Joe's, Lancaster and Wild Harvest. Each package bears the establishment number "EST. 492" inside the USDA mark of inspection or on the nutrition label.

The Associated Press reported that one of the deaths was an adult from Albany County, N.Y., who had several underlying health conditions, according to the New York State Health Department. The other fatality was reported by New Hampshire, where health officials said a patient died of complications.

For complete details on the recall including the weight and labels of the recalled packages of meat, read the recall notice from the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service. Consumers can contact the Fairbank Farms’ toll-free hotline at 1-877-546-0122.