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December 1, 2008 8:06:40 AM CST

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product safety news stories

11 Stories

 Tot's Death Spurs 
 Soccer Goal Recall 

Toddler strangled after head became trapped in mesh

NPR NPR Sep 17, 08 12:26 PM CDT
(Newser) - Some 190,000 fold-up soccer goals are being recalled after the strangulation death of a Texas toddler, NPR reports. Distributor Regent Sports will replace all MacGregor and Mitre brand nets with a 5-inch grid sent in by customers. The 21-month-old child died last year when his head became entangled in the mesh as he climbed through the back of the net. The company has received other reports of children becoming trapped. More »

US Firms Balk at EU Crackdown on Chemicals

Tough new regs shift burden to proving products are safe

Washington Post Washington Post Jun 12, 08 1:57 PM CDT
(Newser) - The European Union has passed a series of tough new laws requiring companies to prove that the chemicals in their products are safe, the Washington Post reports. The rule is the exact opposite of US law—which requires proof that a chemical is dangerous before it can be regulated—and manufacturers say it will add billions to their costs. More »

More about:  cancer • European Union • public health • chemicals • product safety • consumer safety

Senate Backs
Product Safety Crackdown

Sweeping changes in consumer laws

Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times Mar 7, 08 2:45 AM CST
(Newser) - The Senate has passed a tough new product safety measure covering toys, household appliances and thousands of other products. It would ban lead in toys, increase civil penalties for hazardous products tenfold, enable more state regulation and create a database of dangerous items on the market. It also sets up a confrontation with the White House, which in the past has sided with manufacturers who oppose the bill, reports the Los Angeles Times . More »

iPods OK for Pacemaker Patients, Study Says

Contradicts two reports from last year

Reuters Reuters Feb 1, 08 11:14 AM CST
(Newser) - Heart patients who have both pacemakers and iPods can rest easy: The music devices don't affect the cardiac ones, reports Reuters. Two studies published last year suggested that iPods created electrical interference, but a new report by a team of FDA researchers concludes, “No interference effects can occur in pacemakers exposed to the iPods we tested." More »

More about:  Apple • iPod • heart health • product safety • portable media players • pacemakers

China Launches Press Tours to Boost Product Image

In wake of tainted goods, official urges: 'Believe in us'

Reuters Reuters Sep 20, 07 4:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - With the label "made in China" now carrying particularly negative associations in the wake of tainted products, the Chinese government is on a public relations offensive to convince the world its goods are safe. Journalists have been shown around gleaming drug factories on carefully choreographed tours, reports Reuters. Polls showing that 78% of Americans are concerned about the safety of Chinese products are clearly worrying Beijing officials. More »

More about:  China • media • safety • recall • product safety • Made in China

Toymakers Play Games With Regulations

Call for more safety testing a cynical move, Slate critic contends

Slate Slate Sep 12, 07 12:01 PM CDT
(Newser) - The toy industry’s new safety-testing push may succeed in rebuilding trust, but it’s likely to leave dangerous ways unchecked—and the big guys know it, argues Slate’s E. Marla Felcher. The current scandals are matters of enforcement, not of the regulations themselves, but the new call for third-party testing looks, superficially, like a step forward. More »

More about:  Christmas • toys • recall • Mattel • toy recalls • product safety • lead

Mattel Plans 3rd Recall of Toys Made in China

Will affect about 675,000 Barbie accessories

Wall Street Journal Wall Street Journal Sep 4, 07 7:58 PM CDT
(Newser) - Barbie accessories will be reined in by the hundreds of thousands by Mattel, which plans to recall another three quarters of a million Chinese-made toys due to dangerously high lead paint levels, the Wall Street Journal reports. The company's third recall this summer will also affect about 100,000 “GeoTrax” train toys and musical instruments for preschool children. More »

More about:  China • recall • Mattel • product safety • Barbie • Walt Disney

China Declares War
on Tainted Exports

Beijing launches 4-month national campaign

Reuters Reuters Aug 24, 07 9:43 AM CDT
(Newser) - In an effort to counteract the flood of bad publicity about its product-safety system, China will mount a 4-month "war" on tainted exports that focuses on whipping government officials into shape, Reuters reports. The short-term campaign is "a special battle to protect the health and personal interests of the public," says the vice premier. More »

More about:  China • exports • product safety • communism • Wu Yi • product recall • consumer safety • tainted toothpaste

Bad Plastic:
It's Practically Everywhere

And it's linked to infertility, obesity, cancer—you name it

Salon Salon Aug 2, 07 1:59 PM CDT
(Newser) - It's in everything from baby bottles to coffee makers to CDs, and research is accumulating, as Salon's Elizabeth Grossman puts it, that it's a major health hazard. Bisphenol A is a key ingredient of the lightweight plastics now ubiquitous in consumer products, and it's been variously linked to reproductive health, obesity, cancer and neurological disorders. More »

More about:  health • cancer • women • obesity • pregnancy • safety • plastic • chemicals • product safety • reproduction • baby bottle • neurological disorder

Mattel Recalls
1.5M Toys
Made in China

Lead-tainted paint the culprit in Sesame Street, Nick items

Bloomberg Bloomberg Aug 2, 07 5:47 AM CDT
(Newser) - Mattel is recalling some 1.5 million Chinese-made toys found to have "excessive levels" of lead in their paint. The Elmo's Guitar, Ernie Splashin' Fun Trike and 81 other  types of toys, mostly Nickelodean and Sesame Street products, were marketed under Mattel's Fisher-Price brand and cost between $5 and $40, Bloomberg reports. More »

More about:  China • consumer • toys • recall • Mattel • product safety • Fisher-Price

Recipe for Disaster: Easy-Bake
Oven + Kids

Manufacturer issues second recall this year

Associated Press Associated Press Jul 20, 07 12:58 AM CDT
(Newser) - A repair kit intended to make Easy-Bake Ovens safer hasn't done its job, forcing the manufacturer to issue its second recall in less than a year. Hasbro said yesterday that hundreds of children have caught hands or fingers in the oven doors, and the AP reports that one girl was burned so badly she had part of a finger amputated. More »

More about:  China • recall • product safety • Hasbro • product recall

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