CPSC Releases Top 10 List of Recalled Children’s Products

When a children’s product is ordered recalled due to a defect that could cause a life-threatening injury or death, the Consumer Product Safety Commission puts out the word. But not everyone hears the news.

When a recall is announced, many of the defective products are either pulled from store shelves or returned to stores by consumers who had already purchased them. But in many cases, recalled products remain in people’s homes, offered for sale over the Internet or in second-hand and resale stores, or in other places where children may still use them years after the products were recalled.

Today, the CPSC released its “Top Ten” list of previously recalled children’s products that despite being recalled as long as 16 years ago, may still be in homes, stores, and other locations around the United States. The effort to remove previously recalled children’s products is part of the agency’s “Resale Round-up” campaign. The agency also is reminding sellers that re-selling recalled products is against the law.

“Those who re-sell recalled children’s products are not only breaking the law, they are putting children’s lives at risk,” said CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum. “Resale stores should make safety their business and check for recalled products and hazards to children.”

In 1999, the CPSC found that nearly 70 percent of resale stores had at least one recalled or otherwise hazardous product on sale, officials said. The agency is now working with the National Association of Resale & Thrift Shops, the Salvation Army, various state agencies, and other authorities to make sure that re-sellers do not offer for sale recalled products including infant cribs, booster seats, and clothing with drawstrings around the head or neck.

CPSC’s Top Ten List of Recalled Children’s Products

1) Playskool Travel-Lite Play Yards: Recalled on March 10, 1993 because the side rails on the portable cribs may fold during use, entrapping and suffocating children. Three infant deaths have been reported.

2) Evenflo Happy Camper Play Yards: Recalled on June 25, 1997, the play enclosures can suddenly collapse, trapping the child. Also, the rotating plastic hinges can crack or break, presenting a sharp edge and possibly allowing the child to escape. At least three deaths have been linked to the defectively dangerous play yards.

3) Baby Trend Home and Roam and Baby Express Portable Cribs and Play Yards: Recalled on December 19, 1994 and February 28, 2001, the cribs and play yards can collapse and entrap infants. A 9-month-old Washington girl died in such an incident in January 2001 when her neck was caught in the V-shape created by the collapsed sides of her crib/play yard. There have been three other deaths associated with the products as well as three reports of babies found not breathing who were later revived.

4) Magnetix Magnetic Building Sets: Recalled on March 31, 2006 and April 19, 2007, the small magnets inside the plastic building pieces and rods can fall out and be swallowed and ingested by children, resulting in fatal intestinal perforations and blockages. At least one death and 27 serious injuries were associated with the toys.

5) Easy Bake Ovens: Recalled on July 19, 2007 because young children may insert their fingers and hands into the oven’s front opening, causing burns and entrapment.

6) Polly Pocket Dolls with Magnets: Recalled on August 14, 2007 and November 21, 2006, small magnets inside the dolls and accessories can come loose and swallowed by children. The magnets can then attach to one another, causing painful and even fatal intestinal blockages. There were at least three such incidents.

7) Simplicity Drop Side Cribs: Recalled on July 2, 2009, September 17, 2008, and September 21, 2007 because the drop sides on the cribs can detach, creating gaps large enough to trap, strangle, and suffocate infants. The CPSC is aware of 10 deaths associated with Simplicity drop side cribs.

8) Simplicity Bassinets (also includes bassinets with Graco or Winnie the Pooh motif): Recalled on September 11, 2008, August 27, 2008, and August 28, 2008, the Simplicity 3-in-1 and 4-in-1 convertible bassinets have metal bars that are covered by an adjustable fabric flap which is attached by velcro. The fabric is folded down when the bassinet is converted into a bed-side co-sleeping position. If the velcro is not properly re-secured when the flap is adjusted, an infant can slip through the opening and become entrapped between the metal bars and suffocate. CPSC is aware of at least three deaths involving Simplicity bassinets.

9) Hill Sportswear hooded drawstring sweatshirts: Recalled on February 12, 2009, the drawstring can become tangled around the child’s neck, causing strangulation. A 3-year-old boy in Fresno, Calif. was killed after his sweatshirt drawstring became stuck on a playground set.

10) Evenflo Envision High Chairs: Recalled on April 2, 2009 because the recline fasteners and metal screws on both sides of the high chair can loosen and fall out, allowing the seatback to detach or recline unexpectedly. Children may fall backwards out of the high chair and suffer bumps and bruises to the head, abrasions, cuts and bruises. Detached hardware also poses a choking hazard to children.

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