Attorney General Kwame Raoul released his annual Safe Shopping Guide highlighting recently recalled hazardous toys, children’s products and household items to help Illinois families shop safely this holiday season. The 2022 Safe Shopping Guide includes detailed descriptions and photographs of children’s products recalled in the last year, including children’s toys, clothing and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) that pose choking and fire hazards.
Attorney General Raoul is urging people to be aware of products such as e-bikes, toy guns and headphones with batteries that can overheat, ignite and pose a fire hazard. Some other products, like flashlights and electric bicycles have been recalled due to battery latch malfunctions, which result in batteries falling out unexpectedly and potentially causing a fall hazard. Attorney General Raoul also warns parents and caregivers of clothing and toys with lead levels exceeding the allowable limit and clothes that do not meet the anti-flammability standards.
Very importantly, Attorney General Raoul wants to ensure that everyone understands the risks posed by a wide variety of electronic items, including small electronic toys, electronic key fobs, and other non-toy items that are powered by small button batteries. If children are able to access those small batteries and ingest them or insert them in their nose or ears, very serious internal burns can result.
“The holiday season has quickly arrived, which means parents, guardians and caregivers are already shopping for the little ones on their holiday lists. I encourage shoppers to reference my office’s annual Safe Shopping Guide to ensure a safe holiday,” Raoul said. “This simple guide will help shoppers avoid buying recalled products and also tells consumers what to do if they already have a recalled item in their home.”
Since January, there have been many product recalls by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission that are focused on protecting children. The Attorney General’s easy-to-use resource can help families avoid purchasing recalled products on the secondhand market and identify items that may already be in their homes. The guide also describes actions families can take if they do have recalled products in their homes.
This year, some of the products parents, guardians and caregivers should watch out for include toys, music sets, touch books, pacifiers, tethers and rattles that have been recalled due to choking hazards from parts that can break off. The guide also describes potentially flammable sleepwear.
Attorney General Raoul is also urging people to be aware of bunk beds that pose entrapment and strangulation hazards due to a wide space between a ladder step and the cross-member of the dresser-top hutch. In addition to products for infants and young children, Raoul’s guide highlights items for older children, such as youth ATVs and safety helmets that do not meet safety requirements, posing a risk of serious injuries or death.
While many recalled items have been removed from store shelves, consumers should check the Safe Shopping Guide to make sure they are not planning to give a product as a gift that a retailer or secondhand vendor is still inadvertently selling. Buyers should also check the product guidelines to make sure that the products they are buying are appropriate for the age of the recipient.
Original source can be found here.