This “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” bracelet manufactured by Buy-Rite Designs of Freehold, N.J., has high levels of cadmium and should be thrown away.

Hey, Mom! Take those “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” brand children’s Christmas and winter-themed bracelets away from your kids and throw them away.

That’s the latest safety alert from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The charms on the bracelets tested with very high levels of cadmium.

The bracelets, which were sold at dollar stores nationwide, were flagged by the Associated Press in a January story about cadmium in children’s jewelry products.

These bracelets are the second round of children’s metal jewelry recalled by CPSC because of high levels of cadmium. The first was a recall of two “Princess and the Frog” necklaces.

CPSC reiterates that parents and caregivers should not allow young children to be given or to play with cheap metal jewelry, especially when they are unsupervised. Swallowing, sucking on or chewing a metal charm or necklace could result in exposure to lead, cadmium or other heavy metals, which are known to be toxic at certain levels of exposure.

Buy-Rite Designs of Freehold, N.J., The company that made the Rudolph bracelets, has gone out of business. Sorry, no refund.

This Bumble Snowman bracelet manufactured by Buy-Rite Designs of Freehold, N.J., has high levels of cadmium and should be thrown away.

Today, the White House is running a video report on the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s accomplishments in 2009. In her message, Chairman Inez Tenenbaum addresses CPSC’s successes and what we are doing help keep you and your family safe. To see the report, click here.

In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, importer FAF Inc. is recalling 55,000 children’s metal necklaces that were sold at Walmart from November 2009 through January 2010 for $5.

The recalled jewelry is shaped as a metal crown or frog pendant on a metal link chain necklace in a crown-hinged box, and were sold with the words “The Princess and the Frog” on the packaging. The model numbers and UPC codes on the packaging are as follows:

• Crown: Model # 4616-4191, UPC # 72783367144
• Frog: Model # 4616-4190, UPC # 72783367147

Earlier this month, Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairman Inez Tenenbaum urged parents, grandparents and caregivers to take cheap metal jewelry away from children who will swallow, suck or chew on it. Parents can throw any other cheap metal jewelry away in the regular trash.

This recall is part of CPSC’s continuous work to remove hazardous products through the Federal Hazardous Substances Act.

Parents who have concerns about children swallowing these products are advised to consult with their pediatricians. For more information on cadmium and its health effects, The Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry has a Q&A available online.

In March 2006, a tragic incident occurred which had a significant impact on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Jarnell Brown, a 4-year old boy from Minneapolis, Minn., swallowed a metal charm that was nearly pure lead. He sadly died four days later. Since 2004, our agency has conducted more than 50 recalls of more than 180 million units of metal jewelry because it contained a hazardous amount of lead. Since August 2009, it has been illegal to produce a piece of children’s metal jewelry with more than 300 parts per million of lead.

Now we hear about cadmium in jewelry. This is unacceptable. Just this week, I sent a clear message warning manufacturers against the use of heavy metals, “especially cadmium,” in a keynote speech that was delivered Tuesday at the APEC Toy Safety Initiative/Dialogue in Hong Kong.

Because of these recent developments, I have a message for parents, grandparents and caregivers: Do not allow young children to be given or to play with cheap metal jewelry, especially when they are unsupervised.

We have proof that lead in children’s jewelry is dangerous and was pervasive in the marketplace. To prevent young children from possibly being exposed to lead, cadmium or any other hazardous heavy metal, take the jewelry away.

We are moving swiftly to stop the replacement of lead with cadmium and other hazardous heavy metals in children’s products imported from China. We are also actively investigating the jewelry cited in the recent AP story and will inform parents and consumers quickly of any actions we take as a result of our efforts. Our investigation is squarely focused on ensuring the safety of children.

It is very difficult for a parent to determine if an item contains harmful levels of a metal in a specific item except by checking recalls listed on the CPSC Web site. Parents should know that swallowing, sucking on or chewing a metal charm or necklace could result in exposure to lead, cadmium or other heavy metals, which are known to be toxic at certain levels of exposure.

We are working to take decisive action at CPSC, using the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, a law aimed at keeping kids safe from toxic chemicals and metals.

The key message that I want parents to know is: We will act to protect young children, but take the metal jewelry away from children who will swallow, suck or chew on it while our work continues.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is moving swiftly to deal with the replacement of lead with cadmium in certain children’s products imported from China.

In a taped keynote speech to be delivered Tuesday to regulators at the APEC Toy Safety Initiative/Dialogue in Hong Kong, CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum warns against the use of heavy metals, “especially cadmium,” in children’s products. While praising the removal of lead in children’s products, Tenenbaum encouraged manufactures in China to refrain from substituting cadmium, antimony or barium in place of lead.

“All of us should be committed to keeping hazardous or toxic levels of heavy metals out of surface coatings and substrates of toys and children’s products,” she says.

Later on in the speech, Tenenbaum notes that “Voluntary efforts will only take us so far.” She points out that CPSC staff has been working on testing protocols and lab accreditation rules for regulated children’s products. The agency will develop mandatory standards, as needed, to deal with heavy metals in children’s products.

CPSC staff has opened a formal investigation into children’s metal jewelry identified in a recent news story to determine the action CPSC needs to take to keep children safe.

At a Town Hall meeting held in New York City, CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum was joined by parents and consumers to talk toy safety. The discussion centered around new federal safety rules that are in place for toys that will give American consumers greater confidence when they go shopping this holiday season. Chairman Tenenbaum informed the audience that starting this year:

• federal limits for lead in paint on children’s toys dropped to 90 parts per million, which is among the lowest in the world;
• toys for children 12 and younger must now be tested and certified that they meet the new lead in paint limits;
• children’s toys cannot be made or sold with more than 300 parts per million of total lead;
• children’s toys cannot be made or sold with more than 0.1% of six prohibited phthalates;
• and most children’s toys now fall under mandatory standards, instead of voluntary ones.

“It is important to make safety a priority when making your holiday toy purchases this season,” said Chairman Inez Tenenbaum. “CPSC has worked hard this year to give parents and grandparents greater confidence that the toys they seek to purchase have enhanced safety protections for children.”

So far in calendar year 2009, CPSC has had 38 toy recalls, which is down from 162 in 2008 and 148 in 2007. Toy recalls involving lead paint are also down. This year there has been 14 recalls involving lead, down from 63 in 2007 and 85 in 2008. CPSC attributes this decline to increased enforcement at the ports, cooperation with other nations, consumer awareness and education and compliance by the industry with new federal safety rules.

For 2008, the Commission has reports of 19 toy-related deaths and about 172,700 hospital emergency room treated toy-related injuries to children under 15. Almost half of these injuries, approximately 82,300 were to children younger than 5 years of age. Most of the deaths were associated with drowning, motor vehicle involvement, or airway obstruction from a small toy or small part of a toy.

Here are some safety steps consumers can take while shopping this holiday season:

• Scooters and other Riding Toys – Riding toys, skateboards and in-line skates go fast and falls could be deadly. Helmets and safety gear should be worn at all times and be sized to fit.
• Small Balls and other Toys with Small Parts – For children younger than age three, avoid toys with small parts, which can cause choking.
• Balloons – Children can choke or suffocate on un-inflated or broken balloons. Keep un-inflated balloons away from children younger than eight years old. Discard broken balloons at once.
• Magnets – For children under age six, avoid building or play sets with small magnets. If magnets or pieces with magnets are swallowed, serious injuries and/or death can occur.

Once the gifts are open:

• Immediately discard plastic wrappings or other packaging on toys before they become dangerous play things.
• Keep toys appropriate for older children away from younger siblings.
• Charging batteries should be supervised by adults. Chargers and adapters can pose thermal burn hazards to young children. Pay attention to instructions and warnings on battery chargers. Some chargers lack any device to prevent overcharging.

The theme of this year’s summit is promoting best practices by Chinese manufacturers and U.S. importers to ensure product safety.

The CPSC team is working with Chinese manufacturers and U.S. importers to build U.S. safety requirements into products before they reach U.S. ports so you can have confidence in the safety of the products you buy for your family.

CPSC will be working to improve safety in six key areas –toys, lead in children’s products, fireworks, cigarette lighters, electrical products and ATVs.

On Thursday, there will be a tour of an ATV factory in Wuxi and on Friday a government ATV testing facility in Shanghai. There is no consumer product that CPSC oversees that is involved in more fatalities than ATVs – about 900 fatalities every year. CPSC wants to make sure that ATV makers in China understand that there are rules they must follow if their ATVs are headed to the U.S.

Another issue we will discuss is drywall. CPSC has received more than 1700 reports from homeowners in the U.S. who have complained of health problems and corrosion of electrical and copper components in their homes. CPSC is working tirelessly to get to the bottom of this problem.

On Monday, CPSC and AQSIQ will announce the results of days of hard work by both sides at a press conference in Beijing.

The Chairman and staff members look forward to the discussions on all of these important topics at this year’s Summit and will continue to be your enthusiastic advocate for safer consumer products.

(Read the transcript or watch in Windows Media format)

The end of the outdoor swimming and pool season doesn’t mean the end of drowning dangers for young children. After pools, more children drown in bathtubs than in any other product in and around the home. Children can drown in only inches of water in bathtubs, baby seats or bathinettes, buckets and pails, landscaping or yard products, and other products found in and around the home. The majority of reported in-home drownings and non-fatal submersion incidents in homes involved children younger than 2 years old. See CPSC’s staff report on young children’s drownings and non-fatal submersion incidents in homes.

Parents need to know that water anywhere is a potential drowning hazard to children. A lapse in supervision by caregivers is the leading cause of preventable children’s in-home drownings. Never leave young children alone, even for a moment, near any water.

         More lives are lost and more homes are destroyed by fire than any other hazard. According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), 2,755 were killed last year in home fires, 83% of all fire deaths. On average, eight lives are lost every day from home fires. At CPSC, we listen to the loved ones of fire victims and often hear them say, “if only.” “If only the smoke detector had a battery. If only we had a plan to get out alive.”

       Along with our friends at NFPA and the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), we want to encourage Americans to be vigilant about preventing fires in the home. This week is Fire Prevention Week, and I want to encourage families to have working smoke alarms and to practice an escape plan that includes educating children about smart ways to handle dangerous situations with fire. Doing these things will save many lives.

       For more information on Fire Prevention Week, check out www.firepreventionweek.org. For another terrific resource on fire safety, link to www.FireSafety.gov, an information resource from CPSC, USFA, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for eliminating residential fire deaths.

- Inez

(Read the transcript or watch in Windows Media format)

Hello, I’m Inez Tenenbaum, Chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. In my first hours as Chairman, I spoke frankly to families and consumers across the country. I said that as the leader of this important safety agency, I was committed to creating an open and transparent CPSC. We have kept our word. But now we are taking our commitment even further with the launch of CPSC 2.0. CPSC 2.0 is all about letting you know what’s going on at CPSC and gives you an opportunity to participate in the safety discussion.

I’m very excited to announce that you’ll now find us on a new CPSC blog site we’re calling “OnSafety.”  You can also find us on Youtube, Twitter and Flickr. These are terrific tools that I plan to use frequently to keep you up to date on what’s happening on issues that affect you directly. These sites are for the moms, dads, grandparents and others who want to protect themselves, their homes and those they care about.

I’ll do my best to keep you up to date by posting here frequently. You’ll also see on our new site a video series: “The 60 Seconds of Safety.”  If you have a minute to spend with us, you may learn something that’ll keep you safe for a lifetime. And I want to hear from you – I want to know what’s working for you in keeping your families safe and if there’s something you’d like to see on this site. CPSC stands for safety, especially the safety of children. Together, we can take safety to the next level.

Inez

(Read the transcript or watch in Windows Media format)

Almost weekly, we see news reports about horrible accidents involving young children and furniture, appliance and tv tip-overs. The force of a large television falling from tipping furniture can be staggering.  A 50 lb. TV falls with about the same force as child falling from the third story of a building. That kind of impact can kill a child or cause severe injuries. About 16,000 (mostly young children) were treated in emergency rooms for tip-over related injuries in 2006, that’s about four times more injuries than from exposed electrical outlets. 
      
Unfortunately, many parents are unaware of the deadly danger of this hidden hazard. Parents should include securing TVs, furniture, and appliances in their childproofing efforts. The most vigilant, safety-conscious parent can’t react quickly enough to save their child from falling furniture – even if they’re in the same room. The simplest solution is to install hardware/devices that anchor furniture to a wall – they’re inexpensive, easy-to-install, and are on-duty 24 hours a day.  For young children whose home is a playground, it’s the best way to prevent a tip-over tragedy.