U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Recall Analysis
A total of 86 consumer products recall notices were issued by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) from April-June, 2024. Notably, 29 recalls from Health Canada were done jointly with the CPSC, and one recall done jointly with Mexico.
Sports and Recreation accounted for 15 recall notices and All-terrain vehicles accounted for 5 recalls. Appliances accounted for 15 notices, spanning across various hazard categories such as fire and/or burn, laceration, injury, crash and/or fall, laceration, electrocution and poisoning. Toys accounted for 4 recall notices pertaining to injury, crash and/or fall, choking, ingestion and chemical hazards. Furniture accounted for 4 recall notices, issued for tipover, entrapment, crushing, amputation and asphyxiation hazards.
There were 2 recalls in the category of children’s products for suffocation. There were 10 recalls in the category of electrical/electronics, posing the risk of fire and/or burn, serious injury and death, as well as noise/auditory hazards.
Notably, there was 1 recall in the category of detergents, for the risk of serious injury.
Highlighted below are some of the recalls relevant to Softlines and Hardlines products:
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Q2 2024 – CPSC
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Product
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Reason(s)
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Children’s Sleepwear
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- The children’s nightgowns, robes/pajamas violate the flammability standards for children’s sleepwear, posing a risk of burn injuries to children.
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Candles & Accessories
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- The candle’s flames can reach excessive heights and can ignite the bowl, posing fire and burn hazards.
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Toys
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- The toy contains resins that, when in liquid state, can cause skin, eye, and respiratory irritation or sensitization when inhaled, touched, or ingested by children or adults. The resin contains acrylates (hydroxyethylmethacrylate “HEMA” and Isobornyl acrylate “IBOA”) in amounts prohibited in children’s products by the Federal Hazardous Substances Act. After the resins cure, they no longer present this hazard.
- The toy part can come loose and detach, posing a choking hazard to young children.
- The set contains one or more magnets that fit within CPSC’s small parts cylinder, and the magnets are stronger than permitted. When high-powered magnets are swallowed, the ingested magnets can attract each other, or another metal object, and become lodged in the digestive system. This can result in perforations, twisting and/or blockage of the intestines, infection, blood poisoning and death.
- If the acceleration pedal on the battery-operated ride-on toy becomes clogged with debris, it can stick after the user’s foot is removed from the pedal, posing a crash hazard.
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Detergent Pods
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- The outer packaging meant to prevent access to the contents can split open near the zipper track, posing a risk of serious injury to children and other vulnerable populations if the contents of the laundry detergent packets are ingested, as well as posing a risk of skin or eye injuries. Ingestion of a large quantity of any surfactant-containing household cleaning products can cause death among individuals with underlying health issues.
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Health Canada Recalls Analysis
Health Canada reported a total of 56 consumer product recall notices issued in Q2 (April-June, 2024).
An analysis of the product categories shows 6 recalls in the category of Sports and Recreation, for fall and/or injury. Children’s sleepwear had 5 recall notices issued for risk of fire and/or burn. There were 7 recalls in the category of Durable Nursery Products, for risk of fall and/or injury, as well as entanglement, entrapment, suffocation and asphyxiation.
Based on hazard categorization, there were 16 recall notices for fire or burn, 7 recall notices for fall and/or injury, 1recalls for choking and strangulation, and 4 recalls for electrocution.
Highlighted below are some recalls relevant to Hardlines and Softlines products:
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Q2 2024 – Health Canada
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Product
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Reason(s)
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Children’s Sleepwear
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- Loose-fitting children's sleepwear can contact ignition sources such as stove elements, candles, and matches more readily than tight-fitting sleepwear, and once ignited will burn rapidly, potentially resulting in severe burns to large areas of the child's body.
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Furniture
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- The adult portable bed rails do not meet the ASTM F3186-17 “Standard Specification for Adult Portable Bed Rails and Related Products” and pose an entrapment hazard.
- When the recalled bed rails are attached to an adult’s bed, users can become entrapped within the bed rail or between the bed rail and the side of the mattress. This poses a serious entrapment hazard and risk of death by asphyxiation.
- The swivel base of the armchair can break resulting in a potential injury hazard.
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Durable Nursery Products
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- The product does not meet the Canadian Cribs, Cradles and Bassinets Regulations. Specifically, the sleep surface provides an incline angle greater than 7 degrees, posing a risk of entrapment and suffocation to the child. In addition, the folding mechanism does not meet the locking requirements, posing a risk of entrapment.
- The restraint system in the baby crib is not allowed as it poses a risk of entanglement and strangulation.
- The hanging gym’s rope may unexpectedly break resulting in fall hazard.
- The crib mattress supports can become loose, dislodge or damaged, posing a fall hazard and entrapment hazard.
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Window Coverings
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- The recalled blinds do not meet the Corded Window Coverings Regulations and pose a strangulation hazard. Young children may pull looped cords around their neck, or become entangled in the cords, causing a strangulation hazard and even death.
- The clips attached to the cords on the back of the product can be removed allowing the creation of a loop causing the strangulation hazard. In addition, the end caps on the lower hem bar can also release small parts that present a choking hazard to young children.
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For questions, please contact Harini Ramaswamy (harini.ramaswamy@intertek.com), or Andrew Loveland (andrew.loveland@intertek.com).