"The H1N1 Destroying UV Wand" [Hammacher Schlemmer] (Thanks to Andy!)

The first report of an amputation happened in July 2004, when a two-year-old in Connecticut lost the tip of his right pinkie. The mom sued Maclaren, but the company said the accident was due to her negligence.

The CPSC won't say whether or not the company should have reported the problem then, but the Post interviewed a former CPSC compliance officer who says he thinks they should have, and that he thinks they should now be responsible for any related fines:

Robert Moro, an engineer and former compliance officer with the Consumer Products Safety Commission, testified in 2007 that "this stroller contains a substantial design defect when compared to other types of designs of strollers intended to be used by children."

The way the stroller was designed and manufactured in China violated federal guidelines intended to prevent a gruesome "scissoring effect," Moro said.

"Maclaren had a legal obligation to report this," Moro told The Post. "It's extremely unfortunate a lot of little kids had to get their fingers amputated."

"Maclaren defect went unfixed for 5 years" [New York Post]

The safety concern arises over the side hinge that expands and contracts when the stroller is opened and closed. The company plans on sending safety covers to stroller owners.

There hasn't been an official one but the CPSC is expected to make one tomorrow.

It's important to make sure that children are a safe distance away from the stroller when you're opening and closing it. And to, you know, stop opening or closing it if you hear a high-pitch screaming.

Want a stroller that's cheaper and higher rated than a Maclaren, and hasn't been recalled for finger amputation? Check out Consumer Reports latest stroller reviews and ratings (subscription required).

Stroller maker Maclaren to recall 1 million strollers on concerns children can cut fingers off [New York Daily News via Consumer Reports Safety Blog]

From ABC News:

The Toyota denial comes after U.S. highway safety officials rebuked the company for falsely claiming government inspectors had found "no defects exist" in the suspect cars other than loose floor mats.

[...]

"This matter is not closed," said a statement issued by the Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). "Removal of the floor mats is simply an interim measure, not a remedy of the underlying defect in the vehicles."

The article points out that some of the 2,000 complaints in the U.S. over suddenly accelerating Toyotas involved cars that didn't have the recalled mats, or that didn't have floor mats at all, which seems to hint that there could be something else behind the problem. But so far, federal inspectors haven't been able to identify another cause, either.

ABC News has put together a collection of articles about the runaway cars, including interviews with drivers who were involved in sudden acceleration crashes, and advice (some of it from our own Consumer Reports) on what to do if you find yourself in a similar situation. For instance, as they describe in-depth on their blog and with video, don't pump the brakes!

"Toyota Executive Denies "Cover Up" In Probe of Runaway Cars" [ABC News]
Toyota recall and investigation is not over, yet [CR Cars Blog]

Thoughts:
1. "The Lexus eventually came to rest in a dry riverbed where it burned for an extended period of time." Presumably, the family inside also burned for an extended period of time.
2. "No attempts to retrieve data from the EDR [Event Data Recorder] have yet been made." Why not?
2. Why significant factor #5 blacked out?
3. As commenters noted, the 3 seconds to push the pushbutton ignition could have been a problem.
4. This picture does not even look like a car anymore. It looks like a Cthulhu abortion.
5. Note how the all-weather mat is bonded to the pedal.
6. The car was a loaner while the driver's car was in the shop, which would explain why he wasn't familiar with its every nook and cranny, or its unique "hold the start button for 3-seconds to shut off the engine while the car is moving" feature.



If you're driving and your gas pedal gets stuck, put the car in neutral until you can slow and get off the road.

NHTSA report (PDF) [via CR Car Blog]
PREVIOUSLY: Toyota: 911 Call Of Family's Fatal Lexus Crash Due To Gas Pedal Stuck On Floormats
Toyota Recalls 3.8 Mil Cars For Stuck Gas Pedal Danger

FAA inspectors are pursuing allegations by pilots that one of those MD-80s was believed to be in such poor condition that it was ferried without passengers from Dallas to the carrier's Tulsa, Oklahoma maintenance base at unusually low altitudes to avoid the stress of pressurizing the fuselage during the trip, the newspaper said.

Preliminary FAA findings have identified as many as 16 American Airlines twin-engine MD-80s that were operated for months despite allegedly substandard bulkhead repairs. Agency investigators are looking into whether other MD-80s also may have been flown for repairs at low altitudes without passengers, The Wall Street Journal said.

[...]

But people familiar with the investigation said American potentially faces millions of dollars in civil penalties stemming from the widening investigation, and the FAA is also considering the unusual tactic of eventually taking punitive action against individual mechanics or supervisors who may have signed off on substandard work.

"FAA probe of American Airlines may widen: report" [Reuters]
(Photo: randomduck)

• 1) Leafy greens
• 2) Eggs
• 3) Tuna
• 4) Oysters
• 5) Potatoes
• 6) Cheese
• 7) Ice cream
• 8) Tomatoes
• 9) Sprouts
• 10) Berries

Before you run screaming into some weird Atkins-style diet, we should point out that the entire list makes up less than 50,000 cases of illness total between 1990 and 2006, although the report points out that the vast majority of food-related illnesses go unreported. For categories like eggs, potatoes, and ice cream, you can take steps to reduce the odds you'll run into any problems.

Read more about the list and how you can avoid illnesses from these foods at the Consumer Reports Safety blog.

(Photo: mccun934)

Panic is a very powerful emotion. If you find yourself in this situation, the key is to remain calm and put the car in neutral until the car slows down enough so you can safely pull off the road.

Kicking Tires reports there are other Toyota models that are susceptible to the same floormat creeping under the pedal problem, but only the ones with specifc complaints filed with Toyota or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration got recalled.

All modern Toyota owners should check to make sure their floor mats are properly secured with the retaining hooks, or remove the driver's side floor mat.

More Toyotas, even the ones that didn't get specific complaints about them, should get recalled this week, when the recall is finalized.

Explaining the Toyota Floormat Recall [Kicking Tires]

RELATED: Toyota Floor-Mat Problem Was Known Two Years Ago [NYT]
PREVIOUSLY: Toyota Recalls 3.8 Mil Cars For Stuck Gas Pedal Danger

For one thing, food companies save money on ground beef by buying scraps of meat from multiple suppliers, instead of using cuts of whole meat. Two years ago, food giant Cargill was responsible for an outbreak of E. coli here in the states that left a woman paralyzed in the fall of 2007. The product responsible, "American Chef's Selection Angus Beef Patties," was made from a mixture of meat sources:

Grinding logs and other Cargill records show that the hamburgers were made from a mix of slaughterhouse trimmings and a mash-like product derived from scraps that were ground together at a plant in Wisconsin. The ingredients came from slaughterhouses in Nebraska, Texas and Uruguay, and from a South Dakota company that processes fatty trimmings and treats them with ammonia to kill bacteria.

What's more troubling is that although the USDA recommends that grinders test each source of meat first for contamination, most don't because it would eat into profits. That's why Cargill never knew where the bad meat came from, even though it detected E. coli in a finished batch of burgers several months before the 2007 outbreak.

The United States Department of Agriculture, which allows grinders to devise their own safety plans, has encouraged them to test ingredients first as a way of increasing the chance of finding contamination.

Unwritten agreements between some companies appear to stand in the way of ingredient testing. Many big slaughterhouses will sell only to grinders who agree not to test their shipments for E. coli, according to officials at two large grinding companies. Slaughterhouses fear that one grinder's discovery of E. coli will set off a recall of ingredients they sold to others.

So does any company put safety over profits? Is there any way to find safe ground beef without having to buy steak yourself and pay a butcher to grind it? Try Costco. For the last 10 years, they've been voluntarily testing all of their meat before grinding.

Craig Wilson, Costco's food safety director, said the company decided it could not rely on its suppliers alone. "It's incumbent upon us," he said. "If you say, ‘Craig, this is what we've done,' I should be able to go, ‘Cool, I believe you.' But I'm going to check."

Costco said it had found E. coli in foreign and domestic beef trimmings and pressured suppliers to fix the problem. But even Costco, with its huge buying power, said it had met resistance from some big slaughterhouses. "Tyson will not supply us," Mr. Wilson said. "They don't want us to test."

That's why Costco sounds like one of the safest bets you can make if you buy ground beef. By comparison, a 2007 survey of grinders showed that only 6% of them followed Costco's safety protocol of testing source meat before grinding, while half of them didn't even bother to test the finished product.

"E. Coli Path Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection" [New York Times]
(Photo: VirtualErn)

In addition to notifying parents if their kids are doing something questionable, the company also sells summary data based on this information—in the aggregate—to other companies. A press release on its Web site describes a product called Pulse "that reads digital content from multiple sources across the Web, including: instant messages, blogs, social environment communities, forums, and chat rooms." The company says that it delivers the unsolicited raw conversations in real time. It gives marketers immediate, unique information about what teens are saying in their own words."

Greene says that the service can let companies "in real time, find out what the kids are saying about your product and all your competitors' products...I can't tell you who said it, I can only just tell you that a lot of kids said it."

Parents can opt out of this data collection while installing the software, so it's not entirely evil. Still, would this feature turn you away from the product as a parent? Or is the sale of our aggregate data just something we need to take for granted once we venture out on the interwebs?

Parental control company sells data on what kids say [CNET]

(Photo: chimothy27)

(Photo: jgodsey)

2007-2010 Camry
2005-2010 Avalon
2004-2009 Prius
2005-2010 Tacoma
2007-2010 Tundra
2007-2010 ES 350
2006-2010 IS 250 and IS 350

Many Toyota and Lexus owners must remove driver's side floor mat to avoid stuck accelerator [USA Today]

They performed a crash test of a 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air and a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu to show the advances made in auto safety in the last fifty years—thanks in large part to the IIHS. Their original video was a hit on YouTube, and the results were no surprise to anyone with a passing familiarity with cars. What the car-buying public has lost in awesome tailfins, we have gained in safety.

Today, Consumer Reports Cars posted an extended "director's cut" of the video, featuring extra footage and commentary on what exactly you're seeing in the video.

Incidentally, if you feel like watching newer cars get smashed up a bit, or are just curious how your own vehicle would fare in a crash, check out the Consumer Reports crash test video player, which can provide minutes upon minutes of fiberglass-smashing edutainment.

Video: Director's cut - 2009 Chevrolet Malibu vs 1959 Bel Air crash test [Consumer Reports Cars]

The legislation has already been approved by the House. In the wake of another long delay of an airplane in Rochester, Minnesota in August, there appears to be increasing momentum in Congress and among consumer and business groups for the legislation. The Business Travel Coalition, a group that represents 300 corporate travel departments, recently switched positions after a survey indicated the vast majority of business travelers support a tarmac time limit.

After long considering the problem one of airline service, Kevin Mitchell, Chairman of the Business Travel Coalition, said, "Now we clearly see it as a health and safety issue."

"It has nothing to do with inconvenience," said Kate Hanni, founder of flyersrights.org and the event's organizer. "As long as it's a health and safety issue it's got a lot of legs." She said long waits greatly increase the chances of a blood clot and exacerbate other health problems.

An executive with American Airlines said he sort-of supports the bill but that if it's enforced immediately, then about 6,000 passengers will be left flightless due to schedule changes. We think that's an acceptable risk—and we say risk because we suspect he's exaggerating—if that means and end to ridiculously long delays where passengers are left stranded for hours on end.

"Long tarmac delays to be banned" [Chicago Tribune]
(Photo: kalleboo)

Note what factors don't seem to have an effect on whether MRSA turned up in random spot checks at homes:

When they tried to figure out what might make it more likely to have the bacteria at home, they ruled out many supposed risk factors, including working out at a gym, having children who attended day care, having a recent infection or recent antibiotic use, and even working in a health care facility.

The one variable that overwhelmingly predicted the presence of the germ was the presence of a cat. Cat owners were eight times more likely than others to have MRSA at home.

To be fair to cats, it looks like humans pass the MRSA over, sort of like growing it on a pet-shaped garden. For example, check out how this man's dalmation became a four-legged MRSA dispenser through no fault of his own.

Dr. Oehler recounted the case of a diabetic man with recurrent MRSA skin infections that were eventually traced to his dog, a Dalmatian who carried the bacteria but was not ill.

"He would sleep with the couple in the bed and lick them in the face," said Dr. Farrin A. Manian, chief of infectious diseases at St. John's Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis.

Dr. Manian believes the dog was infected by its owner, but then served as a reservoir for the bacteria, reinfecting his patient.

Run away! Wrap everything in Saran Wrap!

All scaremongering aside, the risk of catching MRSA from your pet is incredibly low, so don't go euthanizing anything just yet. Instead, just start washing your hands.

J. Scott Weese, a veterinary internist and microbiologist at the University of Guelph in Ontario, believes MRSA infections transmitted between people and animals are relatively rare.

His tests of randomly selected dogs, for example, have shown that at any given time only 2 to 3 percent carry MRSA on their fur or skin or in their saliva. And even if a pet becomes colonized, meaning that the bacteria take up residence and reproduce, veterinarians say most healthy animals should be rid of it in a matter of weeks.

For protection, Dr. Oehler recommends hand washing or using hand gels before and after playing with a pet, not letting a pet lick people around the face, and not washing pet food or water bowls in the same sink that food is prepared.

People should also wear gloves when attending to pets that have open wounds, he said, and should keep any of their own broken skin bandaged.

"Tie to Pets Has Germ Jumping to and Fro" [New York Times]
(Photo: KaCey97007)

There is even a quiz for the kiddies.

[Via LaughingSquid]

"Secretly" is kind of an over-the-top word to use, right? Well, the Associated Press reports that when the CPSC voted to exempt Mattel,

CPSC issued no press release about the 3-0 vote in Mattel's favor, and information on the vote was not posted on the commission's Web site section pertaining to the CPSIA law.

[...]

The agency approved seven Mattel labs as "firewalled third party laboratories" - the first to get that designation under the new law, which permits the "firewall" exception. Mattel pushed hard for the firewalled labs provision when Congress was considering the legislation. The company spent more than $1 million in 2008 on lobbying, according to federal records.

"Third-party safety tests not required for Mattel" [Yahoo] (Thanks to Richard!)
(Photo: IntangibleArts)

AirTran? Really? Turns out that the discount carrier once known as ValuJet has turned safety into a priority.

"It has been a great five years for us in which our continual dedication to safety has paid off," says Christopher White, a spokesman for AirTran. "Our 8,500 crew members make safety their No. 1 priority every day.

Meanwhile, United, accused of being the least safe of the major airlines, wasn't impressed with the analysis. "It is difficult for us to comment on these figures because we do not know the methodology behind them," said a United spokesperson.

You can see the Daily Beast's results, here.

One interesting bit of information from the article is that the age of the actual aircraft in which you're flying has less of an impact on safety than how long ago that particular model was designed. In aviation writer CLive Irving's analysis of the research, he noted:

Last December a Continental 737 [designed in the 1950s] taking off from Denver aborted at the last second and, in icy conditions, skidded into a ravine. Thirty eight passengers were injured. The 737's fuselage broke apart behind the wings, a failure typical of a design of that age.

Now look at the Miracle on the Hudson. The Airbus A320 [designed in the 1980s] hit the water at around 160 mph, a considerable impact. The fuselage remained in one piece, everybody got out. I doubt very much that would have been true in the case of a 737. Add to that the ability of the A320's fly-by-wire controls to give Captain Sully Sullenberger a stable attitude on very little backup power and the Airbus technology is proved to be a real life saver.

How Safe Is Your Airline? [The Daily Beast]
What to Know About Airline Safety Records [The Daily Beast]

(Photo: Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie)

Lewis Hyman Inc. recalled 4.2 million oval roll-up blinds and 600,000 Woolrich Roman shades. The products were sold at Target and other retailers nationwide. Vertical Land recalled over 32,000 horizontal and vertical blinds. Pottery Barn Kids/Williams-Sonoma, Inc. recalled 85,000 Roman shades. IKEA recalled 120,000 Melina Roman blinds because the wheels fell off because of an exposed inner cord. And Lutron Shading Solutions and Victoria Classics have recalled 245,000 and 163,000 shades respectively for the same reasons.

In all cases, the problems come from exposed cords or looped beaded chains that kids can get wrapped around their necks. This seems to be one of those events where suddenly every manufacturer realizes that maybe a standard product design doesn't play well with naturally curious children.

*And by "celebrate" we mean "masturbate furiously."

"Six companies recall window blinds and shades after deaths and near-strangulations" [Los Angeles Times]

Here's the letter Jessica's friend is sending to U-Haul. We want to caution them that technically they may just be out on furlough, and could easily end up back in U-Haul Prison if they're not careful.

I am writing to alert you to a dangerous policy/practice at your West Allis, Wisconsin storage facility (924 S 108th St, Milwaukee, WI) which results in customers being trapped in the gated storage area.

Yesterday myself and a friend who was helping me move arrived at your facility just before about 4 pm to utilize some free storage that was included with the price of the rental truck. I was given a code to get past the security gate and we went in and unloaded the truck.

At about 5:40 p.m. we attempted to leave. The security gate requires a code to open the door to exit. The code I was given did not work. Without a working code there is no way to exit the facility, even by foot, without climbing a fence, which I am unable to do. The only method of contacting the outside world which is provided by Uhaul inside the gated storage area is the intercom which connects to the office, which is closed at 5 p.m. on a Sunday.

Fortunately for me, my friend had brought her cell phone with her and we were able to call the phone number for the office, which was forwarded to the national office. The woman who answered the phone said that this (being locked in) a storage area has happened to others before and she contacted someone else, who contacted someone else, and eventually (about a half hour after we realized we were locked in) a worker came back and opened the gate.

A half hour may not seem that long, but any amount of time a human is held without knowing when they will be freed is an anxious and unpleasant time.

We asked the worker what happened to us and why were we locked in. Tanya was rude and said that she told us that the facility closed at 5 and if we wanted access when the facility is closed we should have bought the 24 hour access. She also told us that she couldn't be expected to look in all of the units to make sure that everyone has left. (She wouldn't have needed to look in the storage locker to see us, she could have seen the giant truck in the middle of the isle.)

Nothing on the paperwork I was given warned of being locked in if I stayed past the office hours, and even if it had, it is unsafe and unacceptable to imprison people. Any solution to this issue that requires a code to exit will not be sufficient either since it is possible to misplace a code. The door to exit must not be locked from the inside.

After we were released from the facility we went straight to the nearest police station to report this.

As I will eventually need to return to the storage facility to retrieve my belongings I will want to know when this problem is fixed. I had other problems with my service with Uhaul this past weekend but this issue is paramount.

Frankly, we're just thankful U-Haul doesn't rent out freezer space.

(Photo: Stuti ~)

After checking data on past sales, the company determined that 745 Impalas- model years 2006 through 2008 - sold from Enterprise's used-car lots "were marked incorrectly, only online, as having side air bags and they did not," Conrad said.

Enterprise said it will send letters to all 745 buyers, including 15 in the Kansas City area, notifying them of the problem. The company also will offer to buy back the cars, regardless of condition, at $750 above Kelley Blue Book value.

It's good to hear that Enterprise is making good on the transaction and that this was all an error, but quite scary that cars were sold missing a major safety feature, and customers weren't told.

Investigation finds Enterprise Rent-A-Car sold Chevy Impalas without standard side air bags [Kansas City Star]

(Photo: wwarby)

The woman, identified in court papers only as Jane Doe, claims in the suit that Fricker had been in the hotel and garage acting suspiciously days before the attack, as well as the afternoon of the attack, and the hotel failed to notice him, apprehend him or make him leave. During the attack, security personnel did not see or stop him, the suit claims.

"Stamford Marriott claims woman was negligent in her own rape" [Connecticut Post Online] (Thanks to Ryan!)

Update: Thanks to our readers who continue to follow up on this story and post links to more detailed articles, we now know a lot more about the situation. We thought, considering how scandalicious the accusation is, the fair thing to do is to repeat Marriott's side of the story—which is that the hotel's lawyers never made the claim directly, and that they tried to get it removed from their defense well before anyone else heard about it.

Here's what Marriott has claimed in this Associated Press article:

• Marriott says they did not subpoena anyone yet, and have not disclosed the woman's identity:

  Marriott attorney Donald Derrico said the company was trying to determine the effect of the crime on the victim and that subpoenas have not been issued. The hotel will decide whom to subpoena on a case-by-case basis, he said.

  "Her name was never, ever, ever disclosed to anyone," Derrico said.

• Derrico "said that Marriott officials asked his law firm to withdraw the claim in July, but that his associate had not done so because his mother died."

  In this article from Greenwich Time, Marriott's lawyer says pretty much the same thing:

  "From its inception, the legal case involving this tragic incident has been handled by the insurance company and its lawyers under the terms of the hotel's insurance policy, as is customary where an insurance company bears the risk of loss," said Stamford attorney Marc Kurzman in a statement from the hotel. "Interestingly enough, when we recently learned of this defense we requested that it be withdrawn."

Why is this a problem? While the effects on dolphins are unknown, triclosan has been show to disrupt the endocrine system of other animals, inhibiting development and growth.

And sea creatures aren't the only concern:

Three-quarters of people tested in the United States have triclosan in their urine, according to a 2008 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It also has been found in breast milk of Swedish women. The concentrations reported in humans are similar to
those found in dolphins....

Of course, the degree to which the triclosan invasion is harmful is subject to debate. (No one's arguing that it's a good thing, however, unless they hate bullfrogs.)

What I don't get is the popularity of antibacterial soaps in the first place. All soaps are antibacterial, as long as they're used correctly—as long as you sing the "Happy Birthday" song.

Are Germ-Killing Soaps Affecting Dolphin Development? [New Scientist] (Thanks to Anna Holmes!)
Safety of Antibacterial Soap Debated [WebMD]
(Photo: philipbouchard

Affected models include the 2001-2002 Honda Accord, 2001 Civic and 2002-2003 Acura TL.

In some cars, the airbag inflators may over-pressurize the inflator mechanism as the airbag is deploying, which could cause the inflator casing to rupture, according to Honda. As a result the carmaker said, "Metal fragments could pass through the cloth airbag cushion material, possibly causing an injury or fatality to vehicle occupants."

The overeager airbag inflators have already caused six injuries and one death. Honda is sending out recall notices by mail, but for those who can't wait, check to see if your vehicle is affected by visiting Honda's website .

Honda recalls another 440,000 vehicles [CNN]
Honda Automobile Recall Information [Honda]
(Photo: Eliya)

A bit of the analysis:

The National Safety Council (NSC) earlier this month released an estimate described as "conservative" that more than 636,000 crashes, 330,000 injuries, 12,000 serious injuries, and 2,600 deaths are caused a year by a distracted drivers on cell phones.

NHTSA estimates that driver distraction from all sources contributes to 25 percent of all police-reported traffic crashes. If so, then data from this federal agency released this month shows that the NSC figures are indeed conservative.

NHTSA shows 5,811,000 total crashes in 2008-notably down from 2007. (It is important to note that during the first three months of 2009, national vehicle miles declined by about 11.7 billion miles compared to the previous year. That said, deaths per mile are also down.) One quarter of that 2008 figure is 1,452,750-a significant number of crashes potentially impacted by driver distraction.

Just put down the phone, people.

Real cell-phone dangers exposed: Using wireless communication devices while driving [Consumer Reports Cars]
NHTSA withholds government study exposing cell phone driving dangers [Consumer Reports Cars]

(Photo: LaserGuided)

1. The Freezer: Wrap your cash in aluminum foil and stick it in a ziplock bag.
2. Picture Frames: Slice apart the cardboard backing and insert the cash.
3. Under Heavy Things: Place the cash in an envelope and slide it under the corner of something heavy, like a piano or entertainment center.
4. Soup Cans: Why buy one of those fake-bottom cans when you just re-use one of your own?
5. Fake Plants: Put the cash in a ziplock bag and bury it in the fake soil of one of your fake plants.
6. Books: Improve the worst book in your collection with a knife. Hollow out the core and hide the cash inside.
7. Toys: Hide the cash in an old toy your kids don't use anymore, and bury the toy at the bottom of the toy chest.

Of course, any household location can work just fine. The real trick is remembering which hiding place you chose. Send yourself an email with the location—if the thieves have broken into both your email accounts and your home, then really, all is lost.

Seven Secret Places To Hide Cash In Your Home [Frugal Dad]
(Photo: fazen)

In fact, bottled water makers are not required to disclose even as much information as your local municipality. If you live in a city of 10,000 residents or more, you probably receive a copy of a water report each year. The Solid Waste Disposal Act requires that public water systems test tap water for various contaminants using certified laboratories and issue a water-quality report, called the consumer-confidence report (CCR), once a year. (For particularly toxic contaminants, the SWDA requires results to be reported within 24 hours.) The CCR summarizes local drinking water quality, information about the water source, levels of detected contaminants, whether any of the detected contaminants exceed federal levels, as well as information on the potential health effects of certain contaminants. (If you live in a smaller town, consult the EPA's Web site.)

In contrast, bottled water manufacturers don't have to use certified laboratories nor report the results of any water quality testing to the FDA, even if the contaminants exceed federal standards. The GAO study also found that only a small percentage of the 83 bottled water labels looked at, companies contacted, or company Web sites reviewed contained information comparable to that required of tap water.

Consumer Reports tested bottled water in 2000 and found that it was safe when it met FDA standards, which wasn't always the case. All water should be regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency, but since it isn't, we'll stick with tap water, thank you very much.

Is tap water safer than bottled? [Consumer Reports]
(Photo: Snap®)

I recently bought an expensive bike lock because the package clearly indicates that the bike lock offers "protection of up to $1501 for bicycles" (see attached pic). The salesperson assured me that this was a legitimate offer and that if I had my bike stolen, all I had to do was make a claim, and would be compensated in full. I bought the lock despite being skeptical of the theft protection guarantee. After getting home, I went to the lock's website to register the lock, and found these restrictions:

1. To make a claim, you must have original bike lock receipt
2. "This limited anti-theft program offer is not to be construed as insurance."
3. It is void in New York
4. You must mail in a registration form to Todson, and mail it in within 15 days of purchasing the lock.
5. The coverage is void if the accompanying chain was cut (only the U lock)
6. A receipt of the stolen bike ("or if your sales receipt is not available, a signed and dated appraisal of your motorsport vehicle/bicycle by a reputable authorized dealer on that dealer's business stationery." Which of course would have to be done within 15 days of buying the lock)
7. This coverage is not free, you must pay for it
8. The coverage is void if "Torches, battery operated tools or power tools were used to open the lock."
9. You must file a police report within 72 hours
10. Must notify Todson by certified mail within 7 days of the theft
11. Must send in your broken lock
12. "Todson reserves the right to deny claims that it cannot substantiate or that it deems to be false, misleading, or fraudulent."

Those are the restrictions in Brian's words, but that's how the program works. What's most curious is the pricing scheme:

If you qualify for the anti-theft program, you may purchase one (1) year of coverage for $1.00 (USD); two (2) years for $10.00 (USD);(3) years for $15.00 (USD).

Now, this post isn't to criticize the company for having the program in the first place, since it's interesting marketing, even if it's a bit of a hassle. The question is, how many of these limitations are disclosed on the back of the package? The "void in New York" thing, for example, would be nice to know. The front reads "Anti-Theft Protection Offer," emphasis mine. That implies that you have to pay for it.

Should Brian have checked the offer more closely before letting it affect his purchasing decision? Wouldn't it be cheaper and easier just to buy actual insurance on his bike?

Registration [OnGuardLock Blog]

15 ways to protect your money on vacation [Bankrate]
(Photo: isfullofcrap)

Another big recall: four million Aqua-Leisure Baby Floats. The leg straps can break, and the baby fall into the water.

Wolfgang Puck Toaster Oven/Toasters - Heat element stays on after toast pops up; fire hazard.

Wagner Spray Tech Heat Guns - Heat element stays on after gun is turned off; fire hazard. That sounds familiar.

Campbell Hausfeld 20-Gallon Air Compressors (Walmart) - Thermal overload sensor doesn't work; unit can overheat and, yes, catch fire.

Epic Threads and Greendog Hooded Sweatshirts (Macy's) - Strangulation hazard

Children's Necklace and Bracelet Sets (crayons and shiny hearts) - Choking hazard

JGR Copa Body Boards - lead paint

SmartSpark Energy Systems Battery Equalizers - Fire hazard

Orangatang Skateboard Wheels - Blowout hazard; risk of injury

Poseidon Diving Wings - Air bladders can break.

Crane Whirlpool Bathtubs - Hair can get tangled due to drain cover design; drowning hazard.

Loyal Bedding Mattress Sets - Do not meet flammability standards.

DEWALT Framing Nailers - Can fling nails at user.

PowerPlus Generators - Can cause power surges that damage appliances and cause fires.

Tabletop Rope Cutters - Can overheat; fire and burn hazard.

Polaris Recalls Snowmobiles - Rider can lose control of and/or be ejected from the snowmobile.

Ionic Salt Lamps - overheating; fire hazard.

Intermatic In-Wall Timers - electric shock hazard when replacing the battery.

Knorr Chicken Vegetable with Pasta kosher soup mix - undeclared egg ingredients.

Stop & Shop nonfat dry milk - Possible salmonella contamination.

Here's their entire list of demands:

• Leave your dog at home when you go to see fireworks. If he's crate trained, you might put him there, where he feels the safest.
• Don't feed your dog from the picnic table or grill. Bones, potato chips and cookies could make him sick.
• No matter how fun the party gets, never give your dog alcohol.
• Remember that, while the beach seems like a treat for you, a hot day on the sand can leave your dog sunburned, dehydrated and sick from drinking salt water. Follow the AKC's guidelines to keep your pet healthy and happy throughout the summer.

Some summery traditions can be a dog's pet peeve [Consumer Reports Safety]
And the rockets red glare ... [Consumer Reports Safety]
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(Photo: Mark)

A study by the Environmental Working Group found that "people people can lower their pesticide exposure by almost 80 percent by avoiding the top twelve most contaminated fruits and vegetables and eating the least contaminated instead."

Eating the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables will expose a person to about 10 pesticides per day, on average. Eating the 15 least contaminated will expose a person to less than 2 pesticides per day.

The guide is available as an iPhone app, a PDF, and printable HTML page. Unfortunately, it doesn't cover foods beyond fruits and vegetables, such as grains and meats. According to Consumer Reports, baby food, meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy should also head up the list of things you want to buy organically. Just make sure when doing so that you carefully read labels.

Labels including "USDA Organic/Organic," "Not Treated with rBGH," "No Hormones Administered or Added" and "Certified Humane" are the real deal. Products labeled "No Antibiotics Used or Administered/Raised without Antibiotics," "No Hormones Administered" and "Grass-Fed" might also be worth it, although there are loopholes that may make them less meaningful. Buyer beware as "Free Range," "Free Roaming," "Cage-Free" and "Natural" have such loose requirements that animals could still have been mistreated.

Shoppers Guide to Pesticides [Environmental Working Group]
Food Labels That Deserve Your Dollars [Reuters]
(Photo: travelinfool55)

Carrie McLaren & Jason Torchinsky are coeditors of Ad Nauseam: A Survivor's Guide to American Consumer Culture. In previous lives, they worked together on the hopelessly obscure and now defunct Stay Free! magazine .

The recalled items include:

• March 2009: 2,900 Baby Necessities pacifiers (choking hazard)
• Dec. 2008: 5,400 toy army figures (lead paint)
• Nov. 2008: 2,100 'Mini-Televisor' toys (lead paint)
• April 2008: 2,000 Interchange Robot toys (lead paint)
• Jan. 2008: 2,000 toy racing cars (lead paint)
• April 2007: 3,500 'Lovely Baby' and 'Happy Baby' dolls (choking hazard)

The penalty settlement, which has been provisionally accepted by the Commission, resolves CPSC staff allegations that from November 2007 through August 2008, OKK Trading knowingly imported and sold toys with paints that contained lead levels that exceeded legal limits. In 1978, a federal ban was put in place which prohibited toys and other children's articles from having more than 0.06 percent lead (by weight) in paints or surface coatings. Lead can be toxic if ingested by young children and can cause adverse health consequences.

The settlement also covers staff allegations that from May 2007 through December 2007, the company knowingly exported noncompliant toys in violation of federal notification requirements.

When asked to comment, OKK acknowledged that their conduct had not been OKK.

OKK Trading To Pay $665,000 Civil Penalty for Violating Federal Lead Paint Ban and Other Child Safety Rules [CPSC via Consumer Reports]

Some of the results:

• 63 percent of respondents report they have purposefully changed their grocery shopping behavior in the past two years because they wanted better value for their money.
• 7 percent of consumers want more information about the content of the food products they purchase.
• 76 percent would like more information about its origin.
• Almost half have changed shopping behavior to access fresher foods (45 percent) or better quality foods (43 percent).
• 55 percent of respondents trust food manufacturers when handling a recall in the event that a food product is contaminated, indicating a decrease in their level of trust over the past two years.
• 57 percent of consumers report they've stopped purchasing certain foods, even for a short time, within the past two years due to safety considerations.

Why is IBM behind the study? It's part of their "Smarter Planet" campaign (www.asmarterplanet.com), which is a for-profit push to improve aspects of modern society through information technology. CNN notes that the company has spent about $50 billion dollars over the past 5 years doing research and development and buying up companies to help them bring more transparency and efficiency to things like our food supply and transportation networks.

Here's a short cartoon they've created pointing out the stupidity of the current food supply system:

"Less Than 20% of Consumers Trust Food They Buy Is Safe and Healthy, IBM Survey Reveals" [PR Newswire]

RELATED
"Smarter Food" [IBM]
www.asmarterplanet.com
"IBM's grand plan to save the planet" [CNN]

The L.A. Times reports:

The new three-tiered rating system will also be accessible at safercar.gov so consumers can do some comparison shopping before going to the tire store. The information would also be displayed on posters in tire shops.

"Today's proposal takes the guesswork out of buying the best tires for your vehicle," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "Our proposal would let consumers look at a single label and compare a tire's overall performance as it relates to fuel economy, safety and durability."

The proposed label will now be open to public comment before a final rule is issued. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 required NHTSA to adopt a final tire-label rule by December 2009.

All the NHTSA's work is for naught, however, because Back to the Future Part II teaches us most cars will be hovercraft-equipped by 2015, rendering tire durability obsolete.

Feds roll out consumer-friendly tire label rules [Los Angeles Times]
(Photo: afagen)

Ned writes:

In early January, 2008, I was traveling via Delta Airlines from my home base in Las Vegas to Atlanta, connecting to Washington DC, where I was going to stage a new-book launch at the National Press Club. My seat was in the emergency exit row – at my request, because of the extra leg room – and after I took my seat, I put on a soft-collar neck brace, which I use in lieu of a pillow to support my head while in flight. Like most airlines, Delta's seats seem to have been designed by Torquemada, and anything that adds to my comfort is a plus.

When a flight steward saw this, he informed me that I'd need to change seats, as someone with a handicap could not sit in the exit row. I'm not handicapped – this neck brace stems from being rear-ended in '76, and I keep it around for flying and not much else. I explained this to the steward in reasonable terms, even taking it off and demonstrating my neck mobility. However, he was on a mission from God to purge the flight from evil handicapped men in emergency exit row seats, and would not be calmed. That the plane was full and the flight was long both motivated me to want to hang on to my aisle seat. After listening to this "gentleman" for way too long, I asked to speak to the senior flight attendant. Unlike this cretin, she was reasonable – I explained to her my situation and choice, demonstrated my mobility – and she told me to stay in my seat, but wait until after take-off to put the neck brace back on. She was so reasonable that I was glad to comply.

After take-off – in fact, I waited until we could all turn on our electronic devices again – I put my neck brace back on. A couple of hours later, during the in-flight movie that I was watching (at $5), the steward came back, manhandling the drink cart. When he saw me with the neck brace on, he went ballistic. He got in my face – literally, just inches away, and I thought I'd need an umbrella to avoid the spittle. He was furious that I had bucked his ‘authority.' I tried to explain to him that I'd gotten his boss's permission, and that he should back off, or at least check with her before he broke a blood vessel. That didn't seem to please him, but he finally backed off after threatening me with unspecified dire results. Under my breath, I mumbled "son of a bitch" – and meant it – but even though he didn't hear it, he figured out that it wasn't flattering, and really went thermonuclear. He demanded to know what I said, and I informed him that it was none of his business.

Well, it took me about 45 minutes to get my blood pressure back down from low earth orbit, but eventually I calmed down and "enjoyed" the rest of the flight. As I was getting off the airplane in Atlanta, this guy avoided my gaze, but with a smirk. Moments later, I found out why when I was accosted by an "official" looking middle-aged woman with an official red blazer, a clipboard and an attitude. She said something like, "I understand there was a problem on the plane …" Since I was intent on making my connection (also with Delta) and because I'd just about had it with power-crazed minions who should have been treating me like a customer instead of a problem, I chose an unusual approach.

"Yes," I said, "and I hadn't intended to report it – I figured I'd just let it go – but since you brought it up, I'd like to file a complaint against that flight attendant who treated me so rudely." I briefly described the nature of my complaint, and kept pressing her to give me the complaint form and get the name of the flight attendant, as I wanted to take this to the top. Suddenly, she got an emergency phone call and had to depart the scene. It clearly hadn't gone the way she'd expected.

Especially since 9/11, there have been a small but annoying cadre of airline people who think they have real power over passengers – that they can use the threat of booting someone off the plane (or worse) to enforce things that are way beyond their rights. This isn't the first (or the last) time I've been hassled on airplanes or at gates, and it isn't the worst case, either, but it was the only time when I'd figured out a way of deflecting the problem. I thought others might want to consider the same approach – instead of submitting meekly, complain ABOUT them to proper airline authorities, putting them (and the system) on the defensive.

(Photo: bixentro)

As is so often the case with recalls, the word didn't exactly spread like, uh, wildfire, because not enough people heard about it and as a result six people have died because of the robes since the recall was issued. Thus, the recall for went out again, the Los Angeles Times reports:

The deaths of six people prompted federal safety officials and clothing retailer Blair to reissue a recall Thursday of 162,000 full-length chenille robes because the garments don't meet federal flammability requirements and can catch fire if they are exposed to an open flame.

Blair of Warren, Pa., and the Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled the women's chenille robes in April because of the fire hazard.

Since then, the company heard from families of six people who died after their Blair robes caught fire, commission spokesman Scott Wolfson said.

News of the deaths caused Blair and the commission to again alert consumers about the recall of the company's chenille robes, Wolfson said.

Consumers are urged to immediately stop wearing the robes and return them to Blair for a $50 gift card, he said.

It's understandable if customers don't feel like using that gift certificate to buy another robe from Blair.

After 6 deaths, recall of Blair women's chenille robes reissued [Los Angeles Times]
(Photo: phototaker)