CPSC's Town Hall Meeting on Toy Safety

Posted on November 18, 2009 by Law Office of D. Hardison Wood

The CPSC held a town hall meeting in New York this week to discuss toy safety and the new federal regulations involving toys. Chairman Tenebaum is hoping that the new standards instituted this year will help parents, grandparents and others in their toy selections this holiday season. Some of the new regulations over the past year are:

* federal limits for lead in paint on children's toys dropped to 90 parts per million, which is among the lowest in the world;

* toys for children 12 and younger must now be tested and certified that they meet the new lead in paint limits;

* children's toys cannot be made or sold with more than 300 parts per million of total lead;

* children's toys cannot be made or sold with more than 0.1% of six prohibited phthalates;

* and most children's toys now fall under mandatory standards, instead of voluntary ones.
 

At the town hall meeting, some stats for the past two years were discussed.

So far in calendar year 2009, CPSC has had 38 toy recalls, which is down from 162 in 2008 and 148 in 2007. Toy recalls involving lead paint are also down. This year there has been 14 recalls involving lead, down from 63 in 2007 and 85 in 2008. CPSC attributes this decline to increased enforcement at the ports, cooperation with other nations, consumer awareness and education and compliance by the industry with new federal safety rules.

For 2008, the Commission has reports of 19 toy-related deaths and about 172,700 hospital emergency room treated toy-related injuries  to children under 15. Almost half of these injuries, approximately 82,300 were to children younger than 5 years of age. Most of the deaths were associated with drowning, motor vehicle involvement, or airway obstruction from a small toy or small part of a toy.
 

If your child has suffered an injury, please contact our office to discuss your potential legal matter. We can be reached toll-free 1-877-829-7211 or by email contact@hardisonwood.com.
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Toy Cell Phone Recalled

Posted on May 28, 2008 by Law Office of D. Hardison Wood
CPSC announced that  Kids Station Toys has recalled about 1 million chit and chat toy cell phones. The toy can break apart causing a serious choking hazard for children. It should be noted that the phones with a visible screw on the hinge are not included. Read the notice here.

If you or your family have been negatively affected by a defective product and would like to discuss your matter please contact us at 1-877-829-7211.
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Storage Racks Recalled

Posted on November 17, 2007 by Law Office of D. Hardison Wood
Where do you store all those toys?  Many of families, including ours, have invested in  storage bins in an on-going  effort to keep the childrens' toys somewhat organized.  Well it  appears some of those storage racks have been recalled.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Jetmax International Ltd., of Irving, Texas is voluntarily recalling about 36,000 boy’s and girl’s storage racks with canvas totes.

The storage rack can tip over, posing an entrapment and suffocation hazard to young children.


CPSC has received one report of a death involving an 8-month-old boy who was asphyxiated after he pulled on the storage rack and it fell over on him. The top rail landed on the infant’s neck. No other incidents have been reported.

The storage rack is wooden with three levels and nine removable canvas totes. There are wooden handles on each side of the rack. The boy’s storage rack has natural color wood with red, yellow, green, and navy canvas totes. The girl’s storage rack has white colored wood with pink, yellow, lime, and purple canvas totes.

Wal-Mart sold the storage rack under the brand “Home Trend Kids 9 Canvas Bin Boy’s and Girl’s Organizers.”

The storage racks were manufactured in China.

They were sold at Wal-Mart stores nationwide from August 2004 through July 2005 and Ollie’s stores nationwide from July 2006 through June 2007 for about $40. Consumers should immediately stop children from using the recalled storage racks and contact Jetmax International to receive a free repair kit that adds stability to the base.


If you have a toy storage unit, please double check it and make sure it is securely fastened.
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Toy recalls

Posted on October 29, 2007 by Law Office of D. Hardison Wood
Here we are  again discussing the numerous toy recalls and child items that have occurred over the past few  weeks.  The Family Dollar Store recalled Halloween pails due to  unsafe levels of lead paint. Jo-Ann stores recalled children's toy garden tools also due to the  unsafe levels of lead paint. Fisher Price  has now added the Go Diego Go boats to their recall list, again  due to the  unsafe levels of lead paint.  Dollar Tree stores recalled children's jewelry for....yes....lead paint hazards. Good grief...with the number of children's items that have been placed in the marketplace and have needed to be recalled due  to safety issues... it is just a  matter of time before we start to really  learn the number of children  affected whether through actual toy litigation or other means. But something  needs to be done.  It is nearly impossible to buy a child a toy without worrying if somehow the product you just purchased contains unsafe levels of lead, or  to fear that somehow it was a toy that was actually included in the recall but happened to somehow  miss being pulled from the shelf for some reason.  It is a terrible feeling as a parent to constantly  be  unsure if what you are giving your child could in fact hurt them. Brands that were once "trusted" aren't any longer. It is truly unnerving.
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