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British retailer John Lewis is selling the world’s most unintentionally disturbing baby bathtub ever. At least we hope it’s unintentional. [BoingBoing]
safety
By 12.17.07
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Whole Foods is recalling its 365 Organic Everyday Value™ Swiss Milk Chocolate Bars with Rice Crisps, 3-ounce size, with a Best If Used By date of 11/21/07, because the batch may contain undeclared hazelnuts, walnuts, and pecans. [FDA]
NPR Tests A Toy Safety Text Message Service
By 12.17.07
NPR went to a local Walmart to test a new toy safety search that works via text message, and while the shoppers there were definitely interested in being able to retrieve chemical test results right there in the store—the service didn’t work very well in practice.
22 Children Died Toy-Related Deaths In 2006
By 12.16.07
Toy injuries were responsible for 22 deaths and 220,500 emergency room visits in 2006, according to a report from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The report looked at injuries affecting children under 15 and found that most deaths were caused by asphyxiation or collisions associated with riding toys, scooters, toy pegs, and rubber balls.
Peter Pan Driver Idles Bus For Thirty Minutes To Punish Passengers Who Complained About Swerving
By 12.15.07
A Peter Pan bus driver took revenge on passengers who complained about his unsafe driving by refusing to let anyone off the bus while making an unexpected thirty minute stop in Framingham, MA. One angry passenger who noticed the driver’s erratic swerving, Brian Moore, blogged about his experience as a surprise hostage on the trip from New York to Boston.
By 12.14.07
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Kids who spin yo-yo waterballs around their heads can get them wrapped around their necks, leading to tales of temporary blindness, blackouts, and neck scars. Today New Jersey voted 71-to-7 to ban sales of the toy. [Newsday]
By 12.11.07
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China and US sign product safety pact. Lucky thing they got that one banged out before Christmas. [AP]
China Pulls Carcinogenic US Pringles From Hong Kong Shelves
By 12.10.07
Ah, the game is afoot, China! See how the worm turns! Cliché #3 should go here! China has pulled some unofficially imported (from the U.S.) Pringles chips because they contain potassium bromate, a preservative that we Americans happily ingest in order to breed a race of lumpy super-capitalists—but that China, Hong Kong, and other countries have banned “because tests have found it to be carcinogenic.”
Most Recalled Meat Is Eaten, Never Recovered
By 12.9.07
Most recalled meat is eaten before it can be returned to the factory, according to a nauseating analysis by USA Today. Well-publicized and timely recalls catch slightly less than of all affected meat, a stunning accomplishment when compared to the recovery rates for tainted meat that sickens people.
By 12.6.07
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Recalls: Starbucks Fusion Coffee Mugs (burn), Home Depot Holiday Figurines (lead), Scope Apparel Boys’ Hooded Sweatshirts with Drawstrings (strangulation), RC2 First Years 3-in-1 Flush and Sounds Potty Seats (lead), RC2 First Years Newborn-to-Toddler Reclining Feeding Seats (falling), Sears Personal Identity-brand V-neck sweaters with hood (strangulation), Basic Editions-brand girls’ clothing sets (entrapment, strangulation), TKS-brand children’s pants (entrapment), Collins International Oscillating Ceramic Heaters sold at Menards (fire), Polaris Ranger RZR 800 EFI Utility Vehicles (fire, burn), Bowflex® Ultimate 2 Home Gyms (injury).
Fake Brake Pads Made Of Kitty Litter? Knockoffs Can Be Dangerous
By 12.5.07
Consumer Reports warns us that knockoffs aren’t just found on the streets of NYC, where peddlers push fake Gucci and Prada bags to giggling tourists. There are now “brake pads made of kitty litter, sawdust, and dried grass; power strips, extension cords, and smoke alarms with phony Underwriters Laboratories (UL) marks; medical test kits that give faulty readings; toothpaste made with a chemical found in antifreeze; and cell-phone batteries that could explode. Online drugstores claiming to operate from Canada but actually based in other countries have peddled “Lipitor” and “Celebrex” pills stored under uncontrolled conditions and containing the wrong active ingredients.”
CPSC Has No Full Time Amusement Ride Inspector
By 12.5.07
If you’ve always just assumed there must be someone in charge of making sure those traveling carnivals have safe rides, you’re right. It’s our friends at the CPSC. Trouble is, they don’t actually have even one person whose full time job it is to ensure the safety of such rides, says the Washington Post.
The agency’s 90 field investigators — who oversee 15,000 products, work from their homes and live mostly on the East Coast — are so overstretched that they frequently arrive at carnival accident scenes after rides have been dismantled.
Old Navy Recalls Boy's Jacket, Offers $5 Gift Card
By 12.4.07
This Old Navy boys windbreaker has a waist drawstring, a big “no no” according to the CPSC’s children’s clothing safety guidelines. You can either cut the drawstring out, or return the jacket to Old Navy for a full refund and get a $5 gift card for your trouble, meaning you’ve essentially been paid $5 to let your kid to wear a jacket.
Recalls Are A Headache For Toy Drive Organizers
By 12.3.07
Toy drive organizers are recruiting extra volunteers to help them “throw away” recalled toys, says USAToday.
By 12.3.07
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An amusing animation depicting the CPSC’s epic failures through song and dance, brought to you by Consumers Union, makers of Consumer Reports. Unfortunately, neither the Chinese Poison Train nor Snively Whiplash made an appearance. [NotInMyCart]
Man Arrested For Smashing "Dangerous" "Toy Lamp" Outside Walmart
By 12.3.07
Based on an advocacy group’s “10 Most Dangerous Toys” list, an Arkansas man became convinced that a Dora the Explorer lamp sold at Walmart posed an imminent electrical shock threat to any children for whom which it was bought, so he conducted his own personal recall…
FAA: Southwest Engine Experienced Vibration. Passengers: The Engine Exploded!
By 12.1.07
According to the FAA, Southwest flight 438 returned to Dallas’ Love Field on November 17 when the plane “experienced a vibration in the number 2 engine” shortly after take-off.
Too Stinky To Fly: "Unfamiliar Smell" Grounds Southwest Flight
By 11.30.07
An “unfamiliar smell” grounded a flight from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport Thursday after flight attendants noticed the smell shortly after take off.
