OnSafety is the Official Blog Site of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Here you'll find the latest safety information as well as important messages that will keep you and your family safe. We hope you'll visit often!

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Recall: Safety 1st Cabinet Locks

By CPSC Blogger on March 23, 2012

Look closely at the locks you put on your cabinets to keep your children out. Do they look like this?

Recalled Safety 1st Push 'N Snap Cabinet Locks

If so, you should keep reading. The Safety 1st Push ‘N Snap Cabinet Locks are being recalled because young children can open the locks and get access to the cabinets.

Dorel Juvenile Group, the company that imports these locks, has received 200 reports of locks that did not adequately secure cabinets or were damaged. Three children who got into the cabinets swallowed or handled dishwasher detergent, window cleaner or oven cleaner and were observed and released from emergency treatment centers.

You can find detailed information on how to identify the recalled locks here.

Stop relying on these recalled locks to keep children out of cabinets immediately and contact the company at www.djgusa.com or toll-free at (866) 762-3212 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday for a free replacement lock. While you are waiting for a free replacement lock, immediately store dangerous items out of reach of children.

Similar Recalls:

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This address for this post is: http://www.cpsc.gov/onsafety/2012/03/recall-safety-1st-cabinet-locks/

50 años de prevención del envenenamiento

By CPSC Blogger on March 21, 2012

Torta 50a Aniversario1962 fue el año en que Sábado Gigante llegó a nuestras pantallas por primera vez. Sale al mercado la primera grabación del legendario grupo musical El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico. Una docena de huevos costaba 32 centavos de dólar en Estados Unidos. Y 400 niños mueren por envenenamiento accidental.

Esta semana se celebra el 50º aniversario de la Semana Nacional de Prevención del Envenenamiento. Un aniversario de oro es momento de reflexión.

En los pasados 50 años, ¿cuáles han sido los logros más importantes en la prevención del envenenamiento?

Ha habido un disminución del 92% en la tasa de mortalidad infantil por envenenamiento en estas últimas cinco décadas. Hace 50 años, más de 400 niños morían por envenenamiento anualmente. Hoy mueren alrededor de 36 niños cada año.

niño abriendo medicamentos

Los centros de control del envenenamiento informan que los venenos más comunes son los cosméticos y productos del cuidado personal, los medicamentos para aliviar el dolor, y los productos de limpieza. Cada año, más de 4 millones de personas en los Estados Unidos llaman sin cargo a la línea de emergencia Poison Help hotline al (800) 222-1222. Y una docena de huevos cuesta en Estados Unidos alrededor de $2.50.

Tal vez el precio actual de los huevos no es razón para celebrar, pero sí lo son los logros alcanzados en la prevención del envenenamiento accidental.

іAyude a salvar vidas!  Vea este video y adopte las medidas de seguridad para proteger a sus seres queridos.

іFeliz aniversario a la Semana Nacional de Prevención del Envenenamiento!

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This address for this post is: http://www.cpsc.gov/onsafety/2012/03/50-anos-de-prevencion-del-envenenamiento/

50 Years of Preventing Poisoning

By CPSC Blogger on March 20, 2012

birthday cake with 50 candle1962 was the year that “The Beverly Hillbillies” first made it onto our TV screens. The Beatles released their first single. A dozen eggs cost 32 cents. And 400 children died each year from accidental poisoning.

This week is Poison Prevention Week’s 50th birthday. Like we often do on birthdays, it’s time to reflect on where we are today.

So — where are we?

In the past 50 years, there has been a 92 percent decline in child poisoning deaths. More than 400 children died each year from poisonings 50 years ago. Today, about 36 children die each year.  boy opening medicine bottles Poison control centers report that the most common poisons for children are cosmetics and personal care products, pain medicines and cleaning substances. More than 4 million Americans call a Poison Control Center on the national toll-free hotline (800) 222-1222 each year. And a dozen eggs costs about $2.50.

You might not think the price of eggs is worth celebrating, but the progress made in preventing unintentional poisoning definitely is.

Help us to do even better during the next 50 years. Take a look at these easy steps you can take to prevent unintentional child poisoning. Poison prevention starts with you.

Happy birthday, Poison Prevention Week!

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This address for this post is: http://www.cpsc.gov/onsafety/2012/03/50-years-of-preventing-poisoning/

Three Words for Poison Prevention: Click, Up and Away

By CPSC Blogger on December 14, 2011

CLICK!

That’s the sound you often hear when you close the child-resistant cap on a medicine bottle.

Imagine this scenario: It’s the middle of the night and your sick child needs a dose of fever reducing medicine. You’re only half awake and caring for your child. You give your child the medicine and head back to bed.

CLICK. Did you hear it? Sometimes you won’t. But be sure the cap is closed tightly. Even in your most sleep-deprived hours, check the cap.

Most emergency room visits involving 2-year-olds happen after children find and eat or drink medicines when adults aren’t looking, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And each year, the nation’s poison control centers field more than 2 million calls because of unintentional poisonings.

This is why you need to put the bottles UP and AWAY.

Like many parents, you may think child-resistant caps fully prevent children from opening medications. Wrong. Child-resistant caps simply give you more time to prevent children from getting into medicines.

The regulation that covers child-resistant packaging works. Since the Poison Prevention Packaging Act was passed in 1970, there has been a 40% decline in aspirin poisonings alone with the use of child-resistant closures. That’s hundreds of children’s lives that have been saved.

Your vigilance can prevent the poisonings that continue to happen. Click, Up and Away. [Link will go back to the CDC campaign]

Follow these steps to keep children safe around medicine:

Put the medicine up and away. Layers of protection are best. That means put it up in a cabinet or closet out of sight. Locks or child-resistant latches are recommended.

  • Never call medicine “candy.”
  • Ask for and use child-resistant closures on your medicines.
  • Keep medicines in their original containers. Don’t transfer them to bottles, day-minders, cups or non-child-resistant containers.
  • Take your medicines out of sight of young children, because young children tend to imitate adults.

Remember, young children will eat or drink almost anything. Poison prevention starts with you!

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This address for this post is: http://www.cpsc.gov/onsafety/2011/12/three-words-for-poison-prevention-click-up-and-away/

Beware of Those Tiny Batteries

By CPSC Blogger on March 23, 2011

Look at that flashlight lying on the kitchen counter. Or the remote control next to the TV. Or the scale in your bathroom. These and hundreds of other products in homes are powered by coin-sized batteries, called “button batteries.”

As batteries are shrinking and becoming more powerful, the number of battery-related incidents resulting in severe injury and death is increasing. A recent study conducted by Dr. Toby Litovitz of the National Capital Poison Center found that button battery-related incidents have increased sevenfold since 1985.

Incidents often involve children younger than 4 and senior adults. In most cases, children have picked up exposed batteries or gotten the batteries from games, toys, calculators, remote controls and other items left within a child’s reach. Often, parents don’t know that a child swallowed the battery. Or senior adults have swallowed button batteries used in hearing aids after mistaking them for pills.

Occasionally, a swallowed battery will pass through the intestine. Other times, the battery becomes lodged in the throat or intestine. The button battery can cause chemical burns in as little as two hours.

The majority of reported incidents involve 20 mm diameter or larger, 3 volt batteries like this:


More than 60 percent of reported incidents are initially misdiagnosed. Symptoms resemble ailments common in children, such as an upset stomach and fever. In some incidents there were no symptoms.

CPSC recommends the following steps to prevent unintentional battery ingestion:

  • Keep remotes and other electronics out of your child’s reach if the battery compartments do not have a screw to secure them. Tape may be used to help secure the battery compartment.
  • Keep button batteries out of your child’s reach. Discard button batteries carefully.
  • Do not allow children to play with button batteries.
  • Never put button batteries in your mouth for any reason; they are slippery and easily swallowed accidentally.
  • Always check medications before ingesting them. Adults have swallowed batteries mistaken for pills or tablets.
  • Caution hearing aid users to keep hearing aids and batteries out of the reach of children.

To watch this video in Adobe Flash format, you may need to download the Adobe Flash player.
You can also watch the video in Windows Media format.

(Watch in Windows Media format.)

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This address for this post is: http://www.cpsc.gov/onsafety/2011/03/beware-of-those-tiny-batteries/

 
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