product safety

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Consumer Reports: Time to Ban Baby Walkers

Walkers are linked to thousands of injuries a year despite new safety standards

(Newser) - Baby walkers were banned in Canada 20 years ago but they're still widely used in the US, where they are linked to thousands of injuries a year. Consumer Reports is calling for a federal ban on the walkers, as is the American Academy of Pediatrics. Pediatric emergency medicine doctor...

Trader Joe's: 'We Urge You to Discard' This Product

Grocery chain recalls Mango Tangerine Scented Candle with 'larger than expected flame'

(Newser) - It probably smells quite lovely, but is the possibility of getting singed (or worse) worth it? Trader Joe's has decided the answer is no when it comes to its Mango Tangerine Scented Candle , which the grocery store chain has now recalled due to a "safety risk." The...

Regulations Dragged as Home Item Kept Killing Kids

Cords from window coverings caused the death of more than 450 kids in the last 50 years

(Newser) - More than 450 kids, most of them toddlers, died from strangulation after getting tangled up in the cords of window coverings since the early '70s. An NBC News investigation—formatted via a timeline that tracks industry and government actions, alongside tragic firsthand accounts from parents—now asks why more...

Lululemon: Our Hoodies Can Hurt You

Dangerous drawstrings prompt major recall

(Newser) - Lululemon's pants are now testicle-friendly , but many of its tops are face-unfriendly, according to a recall notice . The Consumer Product Safety Commission says seven injuries to the face or eye have been reported by people who wore the company's hoodies or jackets and were hurt when the elastic...

How to Dodge BPA in Daily Life

Fresh food diet best way to avoiding risky chemical

(Newser) - The estrogen-mimicking compound BPA, linked to health problems including breast cancer and infertility , is found in plastics, canned food, and even store receipts. It's nearly impossible to avoid it completely, but researchers say eating more fresh food helps and Fast Company has some tips for further cutting down exposure. Try...

China Recalls Milk in New Poison Scare

Melamine contamination feared in 7 provinces

(Newser) - China is recalling milk in a new melamine scare a year after thousands of infants were sickened by the poison that contaminated milk and infant formula. The recall so far is limited to products from a single Shanghai dairy. But it involves milk distributed throughout seven provinces amid renewed concerns...

Killer Bathrobes Recalled

Safety officials warn that robes are fire hazard blamed for six deaths

(Newser) - Safety officials have reissued a recall notice on a type of chenille robe after the deaths of six people, the Los Angeles Times reports. Officials warn that the robes fail to meet safety standards and catch fire extremely easily. All six victims died after their robes caught fire while they...

Tot's Death Spurs Soccer Goal Recall

Toddler strangled after head became trapped in mesh

(Newser) - Some 190,000 fold-up soccer goals are being recalled after the strangulation death of a Texas toddler, NPR reports. Distributor Regent Sports will replace all MacGregor and Mitre brand nets with a 5-inch grid sent in by customers. The 21-month-old child died last year when his head became entangled in...

US Firms Balk at EU Crackdown on Chemicals

Tough new regs shift burden to proving products are safe

(Newser) - The European Union has passed a series of tough new laws requiring companies to prove that the chemicals in their products are safe, the Washington Post reports. The rule is the exact opposite of US law—which requires proof that a chemical is dangerous before it can be regulated—and...

Senate Backs Product Safety Crackdown

Sweeping changes in consumer laws

(Newser) - The Senate has passed a tough new product safety measure covering toys, household appliances and thousands of other products. It would ban lead in toys, increase civil penalties for hazardous products tenfold, enable more state regulation and create a database of dangerous items on the market. It also sets up...

iPods OK for Pacemaker Patients, Study Says

Contradicts two reports from last year

(Newser) - Heart patients who have both pacemakers and iPods can rest easy: The music devices don't affect the cardiac ones, reports Reuters. Two studies published last year suggested that iPods created electrical interference, but a new report by a team of FDA researchers concludes, “No interference effects can occur in...

China Launches Press Tours to Boost Product Image

In wake of tainted goods, official urges: 'Believe in us'

(Newser) - With the label "made in China" now carrying particularly negative associations in the wake of tainted products, the Chinese government is on a public relations offensive to convince the world its goods are safe. Journalists have been shown around gleaming drug factories on carefully choreographed tours, reports Reuters. Polls...

Toymakers Play Games With Regulations
Toymakers Play Games With Regulations
Sep 12, 2007 12:01 PM CDT

Toymakers Play Games With Regulations

Call for more safety testing a cynical move, Slate critic contends

(Newser) - The toy industry’s new safety-testing push may succeed in rebuilding trust, but it’s likely to leave dangerous ways unchecked—and the big guys know it, argues Slate’s E. Marla Felcher. The current scandals are matters of enforcement, not of the regulations themselves, but the new call for...

Mattel Plans 3rd Recall of Toys Made in China

Will affect about 675,000 Barbie accessories

(Newser) - Barbie accessories will be reined in by the hundreds of thousands by Mattel, which plans to recall another three quarters of a million Chinese-made toys due to dangerously high lead paint levels, the Wall Street Journal reports. The company's third recall this summer will also affect about 100,000 “...

China Declares War on Tainted Exports

Beijing launches 4-month national campaign

(Newser) - In an effort to counteract the flood of bad publicity about its product-safety system, China will mount a 4-month "war" on tainted exports that focuses on whipping government officials into shape, Reuters reports. The short-term campaign is "a special battle to protect the health and personal interests of...

Bad Plastic: It's Practically Everywhere

And it's linked to infertility, obesity, cancer—you name it

(Newser) - It's in everything from baby bottles to coffee makers to CDs, and research is accumulating, as Salon's Elizabeth Grossman puts it, that it's a major health hazard. Bisphenol A is a key ingredient of the lightweight plastics now ubiquitous in consumer products, and it's been variously linked to reproductive health,...

Mattel Recalls 1.5M Toys Made in China

Lead-tainted paint the culprit in Sesame Street, Nick items

(Newser) - Mattel is recalling some 1.5 million Chinese-made toys found to have "excessive levels" of lead in their paint. The Elmo's Guitar, Ernie Splashin' Fun Trike and 81 other  types of toys, mostly Nickelodean and Sesame Street products, were marketed under Mattel's Fisher-Price brand and cost between $5 and...

Recipe for Disaster: Easy-Bake Oven + Kids

Manufacturer issues second recall this year

(Newser) - A repair kit intended to make Easy-Bake Ovens safer hasn't done its job, forcing the manufacturer to issue its second recall in less than a year. Hasbro said yesterday that hundreds of children have caught hands or fingers in the oven doors, and the AP reports that one girl was...

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