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Toxic Toys and Faulty Cribs An examination of children’s product recalls in 2008, recall effectiveness at CPSC and the implications for child safety Report by: Kids In Danger April 21, 2009 116 W. Illinois Street, Suite 5E Chicago, IL 60654 312-595-0649 Phone 312-595-0939 Fax www.KidsInDanger.org [email protected] Executive Summary Since early 2002 when Kids In Danger (KID) released our first report looking at recalls from 2001, KID has been reporting on children’s product recalls each year. This year’s also took a closer look at what happens after the recall: how many of the dangerous products are accounted for and removed from use? While the flood of children’s product recalls in 2007, many for lead and magnet ingestion hazards, led to unprecedented attention from Congress and the public, many people aren’t aware that the recalls kept coming throughout 2008. Other findings in this report include: • Forty-eight percent (190) of the products recalled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) were children’s products. • Toys were the largest category of recalled children’s products – 41%. • Despite the scrutiny on lead in 2007, 36% of the recalls were for lead paint hazards. • There were five recalls of over one million products with over 18 million units recalled in total. • There were seven deaths in these products prior to recall. Most were in sleep environments with one in a play soccer net. • Two-thirds of the recalled products were made in China, 4% were made here in the United States. • Evenflo had the most injuries prior to a recall – 94 in their Majestic High Chair. • A record number, 12, cribs were recalled, involving eight injuries and five deaths. • While CPSC requires monthly updates on Corrective Action Plans as recalls are called, our research showed that many companies simply don’t file the report or don’t fill in the requested information. For those that do, the numbers show that most recalled products remain in the hands of consumers. KID recommends: • CPSC should immediately begin to plan and execute a database with product and injury data. • Congress should immediately fully fund CPSC. • Given the ineffective nature of CPSC’s current recall effectiveness reporting, Congress should call for annual reports on the year’s recall and their effectiveness. • CPSC should also require more effort from companies in the event of a recall to retrieve or fix the faulty products. KID concludes these findings with suggestions for parents and caregivers including: checking www.cpsc.gov for recall reports, spreading the word to family and friends, and keeping updated with www.KidsInDanger.org. The full report is available for download at www.KidsInDanger.org or by calling KID at 312.595.0649. 2008: Toxic Toys and Faulty Cribs Page 1 Table of Contents Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 3 The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission ............................................................... 3 2008: Recalls of children’s products continue .................................................................... 3 Toys lead children’s product recalls ................................................................................... 4 Largest recalls for lead poisoning, entrapment and magnet ingestion ................................ 5 Multiple recalls by eleven companies. ................................................................................ 6 Despite public attention, lead still leading hazard in recalls. .............................................. 6 Manufactured in….China mostly ........................................................................................ 7 1 report, 2 reports….1,140 reports before a recall .............................................................. 7 Hundreds of children injured while products remain in stores and homes. ........................ 7 Cribs recalled in record numbers ........................................................................................ 9 Civil Penalties or Actions by CPSC ................................................................................. 10 Recall Effectiveness: A bleak picture ............................................................................... 10 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 12 Action for Parents and Caregivers .................................................................................... 12 Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 13 Definitions......................................................................................................................... 13 About Kids In Danger ....................................................................................................... 13 Tables Table 1: Children’s product recalls 2001-2008 .................................................................. 4 Table 2: 2008 Recalls by product type ............................................................................... 4 Table 3: Top ten children’s product recalls by unit in 2008 ............................................... 5 Table 4: Multiple recalls by manufacturer (2008) .............................................................. 6 Table 5: Children’s product recalls by hazard (2008) ........................................................ 6 Table 6: Children’s products with the most incidents reported before recall (2008) ......... 7 Table 7: Injuries prior to recall by product type ................................................................. 8 Table 8: Products involving the most injuries prior to recall .............................................. 8 Table 9: Products involving deaths prior to recall .............................................................. 9 Table 10: Sleep Environment Recalls (2008) ................................................................... 10 Table 11: Response to FOIA request for monthly corrective action reports .................... 11 Figures Figure 1: Recalled Products by Type: 2001-2008 .............................................................. 5 Figure 2: Crib Recalls ......................................................................................................... 9 Appendix: Appendix 1: 2008 Children’s Product Recalls Appendix 2: Recall Effectiveness 2008: Toxic Toys and Faulty Cribs Page 2 Introduction Since our first report in 2002, Kids In Danger has been taking an annual look at children’s product recalls by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Each year our report consistently showed about two children’s products recalled each week by CPSC, and that most consumers were unaware of the scope of the problem. 2007 brought ‘the year of the recall’ and suddenly, not only did the rate of recalls increase (to more than four children’s products a week) but so did the public’s awareness. This year’s report includes the recall numbers from 2008, but also looks at a measure of recall effectiveness – do recalled products get removed from use? The report ends with recommendations for keeping children safe from dangerous products – those that have been recalled and those still in the market. All recall numbers in the report are from CPSC press releases of recalls. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Congress created the Consumer Product Safety Commission in 1972 under the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), and CPSC began operating in 1973. In the Act, Congress directed CPSC to protect the public “against unreasonable risks of injuries associated with consumer products.” CPSC has jurisdiction over more than 15,000 types of consumer products, and is charged with protecting consumers from products that pose fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazards or can injure children. Nancy Nord is the current acting Chair of the CPSC with Thomas Moore as the only other commissioner. Since 2006, CPSC has been operating at this crippling level. In 2008, CPSC assumed extra duties as Congress passed, and the President signed, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). Once fully implemented, this landmark legislation will provide assurance to parents that children’s products will be tested for safety prior to sale and are free of known chemical or design hazards. 2008: Recalls of children’s products continue In 2008, 394 products were recalled by CPSC, 190 (48%) were children’s products – toys, clothing, furniture, nursery items, sporting goods or art and school supplies. This rate of just over 3.6 children’s products a week is down slightly from 2007, but still significantly higher than any previous year. Combined, the recalls included 18,730,715 units. 2008: Toxic Toys and Faulty Cribs Page 3 Table 1: Children’s product recalls 2001-2008 Year Total Recalls Total Children’s % Children’s Units of Recalled Product Recalls Product Recalls Children’s Products 2008 394 190 48% 18,730,715 2007 448 231 52% 46,562,901 2006 318 111 35% 18,967,210 2005 329 123 37% 27,891,188 2004 277 87 31% 156,169,990 2003 214 66 30% 6,140,691 2002 210 90 43% 11,155,631 2001 214 118 55% 22,992,667 Toys lead children’s product recalls Toy recalls represented 41% of the children’s products recalled last year and were 20% of all product recalls. Most toys were recalled for lead or choking hazards. The next largest groups at 15% each

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