Recalled - But Still in Homes

Do You Have Bumbo Baby Seats, a Drop-Side Crib, Toy Dart Guns, or Magnetix Building Sets in the House You Work At?

Reference: Time

With history as a guide, recalls are ignored or dismissed by most of those who have one. It’s common in recalls for well under 10% of the products deemed dangerous to be either returned or repaired.

“We know that the majority of products that are recalled remain consumers’ homes,” says Nancy Cowles, executive director of the Chicago-based safety advocacy group Kids in Danger.

The reasons why people leave recalled products in their homes are varied, from a lack of awareness to a decision that just because something happened to someone else doesn’t mean it’s going to happen to them. For some, hearing about hundreds of recalls each year can reduce the safety notices to background noise. The result is people getting hurt by defective products long after the dangers have been made public.

Do you have these common items that have been recalled still in the home you work in?

Bumbo Baby Seats

We have recommended Bumbo Baby Seats because so many of us have used them successfully. When these were first recalled in 2007, the government said it was aware of 28 falls resulting in three skull fractures. When a follow-up warning was issued last year, the CPSC said it had learned of about 30 additional babies suffering skull fractures. Parents are warned never to use the seats on elevated surfaces.

Family Dollar Store Toy Dart Guns
Two boys, one 9-years-old and the other 10, died from asphyxiation after the soft darts got stuck in their throats. The "Auto Fire Target Sets" were sold only at Family Dollar stores and came with a plastic gun (either orange and yellow or blue and yellow), a small target and inch-long orange plastic darts tipped with a suction cup. More than 1.8 million of these dart gun sets were sold. The sets should either be thrown away or returned to a Family Dollar store.

Magnetix Building SetsThe tiny magnets that make these toys work fall out and can be swallowed. One child died and more than two dozen others required intestinal surgery. The ages of the victims ranges from one to 11. More than 1,500 reports of the magnets falling out have been documented. At least 4 million of the sets were sold.

Drop-Side Cribs
More than 11 million of these types of cribs sold under numerous brands have been recalled since 2007. Any crib with a side that lowers is no longer considered safe and the design has since been banned. The danger: The drop-side can come loose and create a gap that could either cause a baby to become trapped or strangled. More than 30 deaths have been attributed to drop-side cribs. Click here for safety standards for cribs.

Maclaren Strollers (pre-2010)
These popular strollers — all one million single and double strollers sold between 1999 and 2009 — were first recalled in November 2009 after the company received reports that a dozen children’s fingertips had been amputated in the hinges while the strollers were being opened. The recall of the pre-2010 strollers was re-issued last year after another 37 injuries were reported, including five more fingertip amputations. A free hinge cover is available to those who have these strollers.

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