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WASHINGTON (AP) - One of the nation's top safety officials is putting manufacturers on notice: Comply with new rules aimed at keeping children's products safe, or face the potential of big fines. Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairman Inez Tenenbaum said Tuesday that her agency will get new enforcement tools next month—and she plans to use them in order to protect consumers, especially children.

Selling any used cribs or playpens at your upcoming garage sale? Children’s clothes with drawstrings or zippers? Pre-1985 books? Rubber duckies or pool floaties? Better check them twice. Just like megasize toy manufacturers and stores that sell products from China, the notoriously broad and confusing federal Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act applies to you and your front yard

Makers of children's products and charities that run second-hand shops are stuck with more than $1 billion of inventory they can't sell because of a new federal product-safety law, according to surveys by trade groups and the charities. The goods, which have -- or are suspected of having -- illegal levels of lead or plastic-softening chemicals called phthalates, include everything from beach balls to second-hand clothes to brand-new all-terrain vehicles for children. The goods -- piled up in warehouses and storerooms -- will have to be incinerated or dumped, resulting in write-offs and disposal costs that the suppliers say they...

Legislation will protect families, charities and small businesses from regulations and lawsuits that could kill thousands of jobs. Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) announced the introduction of a bill protect small businesses, charities and families by reforming the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). Senator DeMint’s legislation would stop the most overreaching and burdensome aspects of CPSIA, slated to take effect February 10. Unless reformed, the new law will demand onerous testing for anything geared towards children age 12 and under. This mandate would fall on books, toys, clothing, hair bands, board games, sporting equipment, backpacks,...

Syracuse, New York (WSYR-TV) - Families who depend on thrift stores and consignment shops for kid's clothing could lose that option in a few weeks. That’s because a new federal safety law is written so broadly, it could force these stores to stop selling kids clothes entirely. The new Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act takes effect February 10. It requires any store to certify that clothing sold for children 12 and under is free of dye laced with lead or other chemicals. Beth green smith owns the golden hangers consignment store in western lights: “When you're talking about consignment, it's...

Barring a reprieve, regulations set to take effect next month could force thousands of clothing retailers and thrift stores to throw away trunkloads of children's clothing. The law, aimed at keeping lead-filled merchandise away from children, mandates that all products sold for those age 12 and younger -- including clothing -- be tested for lead and phthalates, which are chemicals used to make plastics more pliable. Those that haven't been tested will be considered hazardous, regardless of whether they actually contain lead. "They'll all have to go to the landfill," said Adele Meyer, executive director of the National Assn. of...

Trent Hamm at thesimpledollar.com writes in his January 3 entry (excerpted) : "For those of you who haven’t heard the news yet, on February 10, 2009, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act comes into effect. One of the major changes that this program will bring into play is a mandate that everything sold for children 12 and younger will have to be tested for lead and phthalates, and anything that isn’t tested (or that fails) will be considered hazardous and cannot be sold. Read more about the CPSIA at the L.A. Times and some interesting blog commentary from the fashion...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Thursday passed and sent to the White House legislation that bans lead from children's toys and seeks to ensure that chemicals posing possible health problems will not end up on toys and articles that kids chew on and play with. The Senate, stymied by partisan differences over the energy crisis, put aside those differences momentarily to vote 89-3 for the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. The House passed the bill Wednesday by 424-1, a reflection of the national outcry over a rash of recalls last years of toys and children's products contaminated by lead...

March 21, 2008 In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Hobby Lobby Stores Inc., of Oklahoma City, Okla., is voluntarily recalling about 13,000 Camouflage Eggs and Spinning Egg Top Toys. The paint on the toys contains excessive levels of lead, violating the federal lead paint standard. Also: March 20, 2008 Toy Puzzle Vehicle Sets Recalled Due to Violation of Lead Paint Standard; Sold Exclusively by QVC March 18, 2008 Galison/Mudpuppy Recalls Wire Bound Journals and Calendars Due to Violation of Lead Paint Standard March 18, 2008 Reebok to Pay Record $1,000,000 Civil Penalty for Violation of Federal...

WASHINGTON – In the wake of scandals involving tainted food and toothpaste from China comes word of a new concern from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission as well as the Food and Drug Administration – toys, makeup, glazed pottery and other products that contain significant amounts of lead. While lead poisoning among children was once mainly caused by old paint, U.S. manufacturers long ago banned the ingredient. Today, a new rash of high lead levels in the bloodstreams of American kids is being caused by foreign products – mainly from China. So serious is the resurgence of lead poisoning...

AP National Writer In 2005, when government scientists tested 60 soft, vinyl lunch boxes, they found that one in five contained amounts of lead that medical experts consider unsafe — and several had more than 10 times hazardous levels. But that's not what they told the public. Instead, the Consumer Product Safety Commission released a statement that they found "no instances of hazardous levels." And they refused to release their actual test results, citing regulations that protect manufacturers from having their information released to the public. That data was not made public until The Associated Press received a box of...

WASHINGTON — A government regulatory agency has taken steps toward banning children's jewelry containing small amounts of lead, which was responsible for more than a dozen product recalls in the past two years. The Consumer Product Safety Commission voted unanimously to move forward in a process that could ultimately lead to a ban on children's jewelry containing more than .06 percent lead by weight. The commission currently has two members and one vacancy. "Our goal is not to continue to do recall after recall," CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson said. "We've had upwards of 14 recalls since 2004." The commission's action...

Tokyo, Japan, Sept 28, 2006 - (JCN Newswire) - Sony Corporation will initiate a global replacement program for certain battery packs that utilize Sony-manufactured lithium ion cells used by notebook computer manufacturers in order to address concern related to recent over-heating incidents. Sony always strives to deliver the highest level of satisfaction to its customers and all consumers. We believe that this program is in the best interest of both our customers and all consumers. Sony is discussing this plan with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission and will coordinate with other government authorities as required. We will announce...

WASHINGTON - On the eve of the nation's noisiest holiday, the Consumer Product Safety Commission responded to growing fireworks injuries by quietly reopening the question of how it should police explosives for backyard entertainment. Without a public meeting, the three commissioners voted unanimously by ballot late Friday to begin a study of whether to tighten their regulation of fireworks, commission spokesman Scott Wolfson announced Monday. Their notice seeking public comment will appear soon in the Federal Register. The notice cited a disturbing increase in injuries and a decrease in compliance with safety regulations as reasons for the first major review...

<p>Injuries to adults and children playing paintball have tripled in recent years, including eye damage causing lasting vision loss, a study found.</p> <p>From 1997 to 2000, paintball-related injuries nationwide climbed from 926 to 2,780, with up to a third occurring in children younger than 15, according to the study, which analyzed injury data from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.</p>

Government warns paintball gun users while it investigates two deaths ASSOCIATED PRESS 11:14 a.m. March 24, 2004 WASHINGTON – The government issued sharp warnings on Wednesday to paintball gun users, announcing new safety measures while investigations continue into two deaths caused by canisters flying off the guns. The Consumer Product Safety Commission said both deaths occurred after brass valves unscrewed from the pressurized carbon dioxide canisters on the guns, which turned the canisters into projectiles. In June 2003, a 15-year-old boy from Washington state died after the canister he was removing struck him in the head, the commission said. In...

There's no competition when it comes to regulation. Should unelected officials be allowed to order the confiscation of some or all guns and ammunition in the United States? This is the question posed by Sen. Jon Corzine (D., N.J.) and Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D., R.I.), in their proposed Firearms Safety and Consumer Protection Act. As one might suspect, the bill is about neither firearm safety nor consumer protection, but is an especially clever stratagem by the gun-prohibition lobby. The Kennedy-Corzine bill would give the Treasury Department and the courts nearly unlimited powers to restrict firearms manufacture and sales, and to...

<p>We bear glad tidings for the Ralphie Parkers of America on this, the official opening day of the Christmas shopping season: Santa may yet come through with that genuine Red Ryder BB-gun. Even if it will come covered in warning labels instead of wrapping paper.</p>

Recall Alert U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207 September 26, 2003 CPSC, Segway LLC Announce Voluntary Recall to Upgrade Software on Segway™ Human Transporters The following product safety recall was conducted by the firm in cooperation with the CPSC. Name of Product: Segway Human Transporter (HT) Units: Approximately 6,000 Manufacturer: Segway LLC of Manchester, New Hampshire Hazard: Under certain operating conditions, particularly when the batteries are near the end of charge, some Segway HTs may not deliver enough power, allowing the rider to fall. This can happen if the rider speeds up...

Gov't Recalls All Segway ScootersThe one-person, battery-powered Segway scooter was first unveiled in December 2001. (Courtesy Segway) By Jonathan D. Salant Associated Press Writer Friday, September 26, 2003; 1:14 PM The maker of the Segway Human Transporter has agreed to recall the motorized scooters because riders have been injured falling off when its batteries are low. The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall Friday, saying that three people had been injured. One suffered a head wound and needed stitches. The recall involves about 6,000 of the single-rider, two-wheeled scooters that can travel up to 12 mph. The scooter uses...