Schumer demands probe into recalled goods sold at TJ Maxx-Marshalls
December 22, 2019, New York Post
Sen. Chuck Schumer raged against a trio of big-box bargain stores for selling potentially deadly products after they were recalled — while warning that consumers may unknowingly have them as holiday gifts. Schumer appeared outside an Upper East Side branch of TJ Maxx to call for a federal investigation into the store and its sister outlets, Marshalls and HomeGoods, which have admitted selling 19 products even after they were recalled for being safety hazards.
Age labels on toys are critical guidelines that many adults ignore
December 22, 2019, Fox11
A national survey shows lot of well-meaning adults are breaking an important rule when it comes to buying toys. That might explain why some toys get a lot of play, while others end up gathering dust. It’s also why some children end up in the emergency room. Kids like toys that are cool and fun. Parents want toys that are fun and safe. Toy makers know that age is another critical toy factor. The thing to remember about age labels is they’re not hard, fast rules. They’re simply guidelines, but those guidelines reflect a lot of research and testing.
Toy stores hope playtime inside their shops leads to sales
December 21, 2019, Times Leaders
Toy stores have long offered activities and interactive elements, like the floor piano at FAO Schwarz that Tom Hanks danced on in “Big.” Toys R Us, in its heyday, drew crowds for its Pokemon tournaments, but its appeal faded with Amazon’s rise. Now a new generation of toy stores hopes to capitalize on the demise of the old Toys R Us by emphasizing playtime. They are fighting for a chunk of the $28 billion U.S. toy market, which today is spent mostly at Amazon, Walmart and Target.
In-home drowning safety information center
December, 2019, cpsc.gov
The consumer safety agency shares information on how to reduce risk of in-home drowning which continue to be a threat to children. Nearly 90 kids drown each year due to in-home accidents.
Opinion: Confidence in the Max aircraft will be restored before confidence in Boeing
December 20, 2019, The Hill
As the world tries to determine when the Boeing Max aircraft will return to service, a more pressing question is when will confidence in Boeing be restored? Once a company known for proudly blazing a trail of unprecedented safety, Boeing has been plagued by reports of rushed production and lowered safety standards for years.
Notre Dame fire wakes the world up to dangers of lead dust
December 22, 2019, Minneapolis Star Tribune
It took a blaze that nearly destroyed Paris’ most famous cathedral to reveal a gap in global safety regulations for lead, a toxic building material found across many historic cities.After the Notre Dame fire in April spewed dozens of tons of toxic lead-dust into the atmosphere in just a few hours, Paris authorities discovered a problem with the city’s public safety regulations: There was no threshold for them to gauge how dangerous the potentially-deadly pollution was from the dust that settled on the ground.
In new year, two new health protections go into effect in California
December 20, 2019, NRDC
In 2020, Californians will know more about what’s in their cleaning products and new furniture and mattresses will be safer. Starting January, upholstered furniture, certain children’s products, and mattress foam sold in California can no longer contain added toxic flame-retardant chemicals. This will eliminate a significant source of exposure to these chemicals, which are associated with a host of health effects, particularly for children and firefighters. The state has adopted flammability standards that provide fire safety without the unnecessary use of these chemicals.
Amid chemical industry lobbying, Trump EPA reconsiders risk of cancer-causing ethylene oxide
December 20, 2019, Chicago Tribune
Facing tougher restrictions, companies that manufacture and use ethylene oxide are pushing the Trump administration to undercut federal scientists and adopt a dramatically weaker standard for the cancer-causing gas. The dispute pits Dow Chemical, Shell and other industry giants against the Environmental Protection Agency’s career staff, its scientific advisers and academic researchers, who concluded during the past decade that ethylene oxide is far more dangerous than previously thought.
Lawmakers back to square one on forever chemicals
December 21, 2019, The Hill
Lawmakers must largely start anew after a major attempt to regulate a cancer-linked chemical that is spreading into the water supply across the United States was stripped from legislation this week, striking the best bet in years to address the problem. The class of chemicals abbreviated as PFAS is used in products ranging from raincoats to nonstick cookware to firefighting foam. It’s been deemed a “forever chemical” due to its lingering persistence in the environment and in the human body.
EPA publishes final list of 20 high priority chemicals
December 23, 2019, National Law Review
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published on December 20, 2019, the final list of high-priority chemicals. These chemicals will be the next 20 chemicals to undergo risk evaluation under the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The 20 chemicals consist of seven chlorinated solvents, six phthalates, four flame retardants, formaldehyde, a fragrance additive, and a polymer precursor:
