Threat of Fire Provokes New Round of CPSC Hoverboard Recalls
November 15, 2017, Consumer Reports
In a reminder to consumers about the ongoing dangers posed by many hoverboards, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced recalls for almost 14,000 boards distributed by seven different brands. They include Drone Nerds, Go Wheels, iHoverspeed, ILive, TechDRift, SonicSmart, and Smart Balance. All of the recalls stemmed from overheating problems related to the batteries in the boards and the resulting threat of fire or explosion
Don’t play with toy safety: CPSC Tips for safe gifts
November 17, 2017, Health News Digest
As the nation enters the busy holiday season, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is issuing a reminder about toy safety. “Toy safety continues to be a top priority for CPSC, especially during this season of gift giving,” says CPSC Acting Chairman Ann Marie Buerkle. A new report released by CPSC, estimates there were 174,100 toy-related emergency department-treated injuries and seven deaths in 2016 to children younger than 15.
CPSC Report shows more than a quarter-of-a-million Americans were Treated in the ER for Toy-related Injuries in Just One Year
November 16, 2017, SFGate
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a report stating that in 2015 there were an estimated 254,200 toy-related injuries treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments. An estimated 88,700 of those injuries were to children younger than age 5. And, 45 percent of the total injuries were to the head and face area, the area of the body with the most injuries. A group called Prevent Blindness offers guidance to reduce this risk.
Warning labels: OEHHA Q&A clears up Proposition 65
November 14, 2017, Chemical Processing
The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) released a Questions and Answers for Businesses (Q&A) document specifically covering “clear and reasonable warnings” requirements. The Q&A aims to help companies comply with new Prop 65 notice requirements that become effective August 30, 2018. The Q&A provides important guidance for those providing Prop 65 warnings, the methods for providing warnings via the Internet or catalogs, short-form (previously “on-product”) warnings, and occupational and environmental exposure warnings. After the new warnings become effective the existing warning methods and content no longer will suffice.
Connected toys pose security risk
November 14, 2017, newsfactor
A consumer group is urging major retailers to withdraw a number of “connected” or “intelligent” toys likely to be popular at Christmas, after finding security failures that it warns could put children’s safety at risk. Tests carried out by Which? with the German consumer group Stiftung Warentest, and other security research experts, found flaws in Bluetooth and wifi-enabled toys that could enable a stranger to talk to a child. The investigation found that four out of seven of the tested toys could be used to communicate with the children playing with them. Security failures were discovered in the Furby Connect, i-Que Intelligent Robot, Toy-Fi Teddy and CloudPets.
Legal issues in Additive Manufacturing Technology – peeling back the layers
November 13, 2017, Lexology (Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP)
The adoption of Additive Manufacturing (AM) as a transformative technology has largely been confined to development of prototypes with industrial uses rather than full scale manufacturing. This started to change with the expiration of certain key patents around a decade or so ago, to the point that today – although still in its infancy – AM has reached an inflection point as lower costs and technical advances have put it in reach of a greater number of businesses and consumers.
Flint lead exposure “registry” aims to track water crisis health consequences, outcomes
November 16, 2017, East Village Magazine
A federally-funded registry to monitor the health of individuals affected by the Flint water crisis is about to launch. Funding for the program, about $14.4 million awarded to Michigan State University, has been earmarked from a $150 million December, 2016 bill passed by Congress to address Flint’s pipe replacements and health recovery. The voluntary data collection plan, called the Flint Lead Exposure Registry, will monitor the health of our residents and advocate for resources needed to support consumers’ health.
ASTM mulls standards for bunk bed stair safety
November 13, 2017, Furniture Today
A committee on bunk bed safety plans to address whether the industry needs a new standard regarding the safety of bunk bed staircase units, many of which feature steps that double as clothing storage units. The issue arose during a Nov. 8 meeting in High Point, North Carolina of the ASTM F-15 committee on bunk bed safety, which helps draft specific language used in voluntary safety standards.Some in the group believe it may be necessary to develop language in the standard that addresses the staircase units, most of which are attached to the unit during assembly.
Israel’s Health Ministry alerts public to raised levels of lead in playground paint
November 14, 2017, Jerusalem Post
After detecting excessive levels of lead in paints used on children’s playground equipment, the Health Ministry has instructed local authorities to use lead-free paints in public areas, especially those used by youngsters. The paints and coatings in public areas, including children’s playgrounds, picnic tables and benches, were sampled at 50 locations in Tel Aviv, Hadera and Bnei Brak in a cooperative operation with staff of the Israel Standards Institution (ISI) and University of Haifa funded by the Health and Environment Fund.
Revised EN 15194 e-bike safety standard implemented
November 16, 2017, bike-eu
The very long-awaited revision of EN 15194 has finally been published and is already implemented by quite a few national standardization institutes. They have until 30th April 2018 to implement at national level, by publication of an identical national standard or by endorsement. This revised version of the standard for 25km/h – 250W e-bikes is very different from the ‘old’ standard.
Lex Machina expands legal analytics platform into federal product liability litigation
November 13, 2017, PRNewsWire
Lex Machina, a LexisNexis company, today announced the expansion of its Legal Analytics® platform to cover federal product liability litigation. The new module is the largest expansion of the platform to date, encompassing nearly 500,000 cases pending since 2009, including 158,000 open cases.
