Q1 2024 Consumer Product Recalls Analysis
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Recall Analysis
A total of 121 consumer products recall notices were issued by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) from January-March, 2024. Notably, 30 recalls from Health Canada were done jointly with the CPSC.
Sports and Recreation accounted for 17 recall notices and All-terrain vehicles accounted for 7 recalls. Appliances accounted for 14 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 9 recall notices pertaining to injury, crash and/or fall, choking, ingestion and chemical hazards. Furniture accounted for 6 recall notices, issued for fall, suffocation, entrapment and tipover hazards.
There were 6 notices for children’s products for fire and/or burn, as well as suffocation. There were 10 recalls in the category of electrical/electronics, posing the risk of fire and/or burn, electrocution, noise, ingestion and laceration.
Notably, there were 2 recall notices issued in the category of jewelry, for risk of chemical exposure and ingestion.
Highlighted below are some of the recalls relevant to Softlines and Hardlines products:
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Q1 2024 – CPSC |
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Product |
Reason(s) |
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Children’s Clothing (Including Sleepwear) |
· The recalled children’s sleepwear violates the flammability regulations for children’s sleepwear, posing a risk of burn injuries to children. · The plastic pieces on the end of the pants’ faux drawstrings can come loose and fall off, posing a choking hazard. |
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Durable Nursery Product |
· The crib’s support pins can become loose and allow the mattress to fall, posing a fall hazard to children. · The baby nests do not have a stand, and do not meet the requirements for side height, sleeping pad thickness, and fabric-sided openings. The product’s sides are shorter than the minimum side height limit; the sleeping pad’s thickness exceeds the maximum limit; and an infant could fall out of an enclosed opening at the foot of the lounger or become entrapped. · The recalled highchair, which converts into a booster seat, violates the safety regulations for both highchairs and booster seats. Multiple failures were identified including, but not limited to, insufficient restraint system, stability, static load, latching and locking mechanisms, leg openings, warnings, labels, and literature. The product can tip over or collapse and present a fall hazard to children. · The swings pose a suffocation risk because they were marketed, intended, or designed for infant sleep, and they have an incline angle greater than 10 degrees in violation of the Sleep for Babies Act. In addition, the swing fails to meet mandatory warning requirements regarding sleep under the swing standard. |
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Toys |
· The toys contain one or more magnets that fit within the CPSC’s small parts cylinder, and 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, resulting in perforations, twisting and/or blockage of intestines, infection, blood poisoning and death. · The rhinestones in tiaras contain levels of lead that exceed the Federal lead content ban. Lead is toxic if ingested by young children and can cause adverse health effects. · The toy components can detach, posing a choking hazard to young children. · 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. |
Health Canada Recalls Analysis
Health Canada reported a total of 70 consumer product recall notices issued in Q1 (January-March, 2024).
An analysis of the product categories shows 5 recalls in the category of Sports and Recreation, for fall and/or injury. Toys had 2 recall notices, due to risk of chemical hazard, ingestion/ choking. Children’s clothing had 1 recalls notice issued for the risk of strangulation and entanglement, and children’s sleepwear had one recall notice issued for risk of choking and ingestion. There were 5 recalls in the category of Durable Nursery Products, for risk of fall and/or injury, as well as entrapment and suffocation.
Based on hazard categorization, there were 11 recall notices for fire or burn, 12 recall notices for fall and/or injury, 14 recalls for choking and strangulation, and 10 recalls for electrocution.
Highlighted below are some recalls relevant to Hardlines and Softlines products:
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Q1 2024 – Health Canada |
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Product |
Reason(s) |
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Children’s Sleepwear |
· The foot grips of the sleeper pajamas may fall off or be removed through repeated washing, posing choking and ingestion hazards. |
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Kitchen & Dining |
· The pot handle can detach or become loose posing burn or scald risk to consumers from hot food and liquids spilling from the product. · The recalled ceramic plates contain Lead and Cadmium in excess of allowable limits. Lead and Cadmium are highly toxic, especially to children. A range of serious health effects have been associated with exposure to lead and cadmium, including anemia, vomiting, diarrhea. Lead is associated with heart and immune system disorders. Other effects associated with Cadmium are convulsions, coma, as well as effects related to the liver, kidneys, heart and immune system. In extreme cases, there have been deaths.
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Floor Coverings |
· The snow mat’s liquid metal electrode can get punctured during product transportation and may short-circuit during use and cause fire. |
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Window Coverings |
· 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. In addition, the products can also release small parts that present a choking hazard to young children. |
For questions, please contact Harini Ramaswamy (harini.ramaswamy@intertek.com), or Andrew Loveland (andrew.loveland@intertek.com).