The City of Ansonia, through its Office of Corporation Counsel, advises residents and local second-hand store owners to educate themselves about hazardous consumer products that pose serious health and safety risks to children.
A recent study conducted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission found that an estimated 69 percent of thrift stores were selling at least one type of hazardous consumer product. Many of these were children’s products.
“The City is calling on owners of local thrift stores to remove and destroy hazardous products whenever identified,” said Ansonia Corporation Counsel John P. Marini.
“Ansonia residents frequenting second-hand retail outlets should take the time to educate themselves about children’s products associated with safety concerns,” Marini said.
Unfortunately it is not uncommon for hazardous children’s products to be available for sale at thrift stores.
For example, the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection recently issued an advisory reporting that a product safety inspection of licensed thrift stores found one Meriden store with four used drop-down cribs for sale. Drop side cribs are considered unsafe and have been banned for sale or resale nationwide since 2011.
“Before enacting its total ban, the Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled more than 7 million drop-side cribs from different manufacturers due to suffocation and strangulation hazards,” Consumer Protection Commissioner William M. Rubenstein said. “From 2000 to 2009, CPSC documented that at least 32 infants and toddlers died by suffocation or strangulation in drop side cribs, and another 14 deaths were suspected to be related to entrapment in a drop side crib. Hundreds of injuries, many serious, were also reported,” he said.
The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection reports that “drop-side hardware is prone to break and experience other problems during normal use, causing the side to detach from the crib… infants and toddlers can then become entrapped or wedged between the crib mattress and the drop side and suffocate.”
Corporation Counsel Marini has advocated for the local circulation of a list of “tips” published by the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection for Connecticut thrift store shoppers.
“Residents and thrift store owners should take the time to review the tip list to better recognize common hazardous children’s products,” Marini said. “The sale of such products should be reported immediately to the Department of Consumer Protection and City of Ansonia.”
Hazardous Children’s Product Tip List
- Make sure cribs meet current national safety standards (no drop side cribs) and are in good condition. Look for a certification seal.
- Check that crib slats are no more than 2 3/8 inches apart. If crib slats are too far apart, infants can slip between them and strangle.
- Crib mattresses should fit snugly. If it doesn’t, infants can become entrapped and suffocate.
- On children’s clothing, be sure there are no drawstrings around the hood and neck. * Drawstrings at the waist should not extend more than 3 inches. Drawstrings can catch on playground and other equipment, and can strangle young children.
- For playpens and play yards, verify that the item you might buy has not been recalled. Recalled products include play yards with protruding hardware or rotating top rails that don’t properly lock into place. Children can strangle if pacifier strings or clothing become entangled on protruding hardware. Children can be entrapped by folding play yards that collapse.
- If buying a car seat carrier, check to make sure the model you are buying has not been recalled. Car seat carrier handle locks on recalled models can unexpectedly release when used as a carrier outside of a car. Infants can fall forward and strike the ground if the handle disengages.
- On bunk beds, make sure all spaces between the guardrail and bed frame and all spaces in the bed headboard and foot boards of the top bunk are less than 3 1/2 inches. Make sure there are guardrails on both sides of the top bunk. Children can become entrapped and strangle in the bed’s structure or wedged between the bed and a wall and suffocate.
- Millions of hazardous toy basketball nets have been recalled. Check before you buy. Children can strangle on loops or openings in these basketball nets if the nets come unhooked from the rim or have knots that slide. If children put their heads into these openings, the nets can get tangled around their necks. Toy basketball nets can present a strangulation hazard to children.
- Do not buy older accordion-style child safety gates. Make sure that newer style child safety gates are used to keep children away from potentially dangerous areas, especially stairs. Older child safety gates that do not meet current safety standards can present strangulation and other hazards to young children.
- Bean bag chairs with zippers that can be opened are extremely dangerous for young children. CPSC has recalled more than 12 million bean bag chairs. Young children can unzip the chairs and choke or suffocate on the small pellets of foam filling.
The Department of Consumer Protection works to educate thrift shop owners about ther responsibilities regarding the sale of used products, and recommends The Resellers Guide to Selling Safer Products to shop owners, tag sale fans and anyone interested in learning more about selling and buying resale items.
For more information about hazardous products, visit www.cpsc.gov and www.recalls.gov
