Product Liability Law Blog

According to a report issued by HealthyStuff.org, a nonprofit environmental research group, there are enough toxic chemicals found in garden houses and other gardening products to warrant a "high concern" notation. The study looked at 90 garden houses, 23 garden tools, 53 gloves, and 13 kneeling pads that were bought from popular retail stores, such as Wal-Mart and Lowe's, Target, and Home Depot.

Per the study's findings:
• 100% of the PVC garden hoses tested positive for phthalates.

• 30% of all the products tested contained over 100 parts per million of lead in at least one component. (This is rather high, considering that the CPSC now limits lead amounts to 100 parts per million in children's products.)

• Phthalates and lead levels in the gloves and water hoses that were tested went over the CPSC's allowable levels for other products.

• There were garden hose brass fittings containing levels of lead that went over even the Safe Water Drinking Act standard for brass fittings in residential water fixtures.

While HealthyStuff.org was most concerned about garden hoses and how much toxic chemicals they might contain, the group was also worried about vinyl garden gloves and the amount of phthalates found in them.

Products Liabilitiy
If exposure to lead or phthalates or any other toxic chemical in a product has caused someone injury, illness, disability, or death, the victim and his/her family may have reason to pursue a products liability case against the manufacturer, distributor, and/or seller.

Exposure to too high levels of lead can cause lead poisoning, leading to brain damage, hearing problems, learning disabilities, and even death. In recent years, the CPSC recalled millions of products, primarily made for children and babies, because they contained too much lead. Many of these products were made abroad.

Meantime, there have been different reports about phthalates, which is used to soften plastic, and what can happen to someone who has been exposed to too much. Some studies have linked phthalates to genital birth defects, changes in baby boys' reproductive hormones, an increased risk of breast cancer, liver cancer, and as having an adverse effect on the kidneys, blood, and/or reproductive system.

Not only are manufacturers supposed to make sure that their products are safe for use, but they also need to warn about any health or injury risks. Failure to warn or provide instructions on how to safely use a product can be grounds for a product defect lawsuit.

Please contact The Gilbert Law Group and ask to speak with one our experienced products liability lawyers today. We represent clients that have been injured or fallen ill because of dangerous, toxic, or defective household appliances, furniture, clothing, toys, accessories, motor vehicles, and other consumer products.

2012 Garden Products Study, Healthy Stuff

Garden hoses often contain phthalates and lead, study says, Los Angeles Times, May 4, 2012

CPSC Announces New, Lower Limit for Lead Content in Children's Products, CPSC, July 15, 2011

Phthalates: Hidden Dangers In Everyday Products, Healthy Child, June 29, 2011

More Blog Posts:
CPSC Stopped About 647,000 Unsafe Products from Entering the US During 1st Quarter of Fiscal Year 2012, Product Liability Law Blog, April 10, 2012

CPSC Now Ready to Talk About Tougher Safety Regulations for Table Saws, Product Liability Law Blog, September 28, 2011

Preventing Injuries to Children: Are Gas Fireplaces a Burn Hazard?, Product Liability Law Blog, March 8, 2010

More than two years after recalling approximately 1.6 million Little Tikes™ Workshops Sets and Trucks after an 11-month-old South Carolina boy choked on a toy nail that got stuck in his throat, the manufacturer and the Consumer Product Safety Commission are recalling another 1.7 million units--this time of Little Tikes® Workshop and Tool Sets--over the same child choking hazard posed by the plastic toy nails.

The recall comes after reports of another two child choking accidents involving nails getting lodge in kids' throats. Both incidents occurred before the 2009 recall. Fortunately, all three children were treated at hospitals and fully recovered.

Choking Hazards and Toys
Per the CPSC, in the last 18 years, more than 290 kids have died because of toy-related incidents. Over 55% of these involved choking that resulted in asphyxia. The majority of choking accidents involved toy parts, balls, and balloons.

Most of the kids were younger than age 5, which is not surprising, considering that choking is the number one cause of accidental child death for kids 10 and under. Not only is this because a young child's trachea is so narrow--about the size of a drinking straw in diameter--but also, young kids are especially prone to put small objects in their mouth without realizing how dangerous this can be for them. Over 10,000 children end up in hospital emergency rooms each year for treatment of choking-related injuries.

Examples of toy items that can pose a choking hazard:
• Marbles
• Small parts
• Tiny figures
• Button size batteries for toys
• Crayons
• Small, removeable toy parts

Toys are not the only products that can pose choking hazards. Toymakers and the manufacturers of other products know of this danger and they are supposed to make toys for infants and toddlers that minimize this risk. Unfortunately, products are still getting made that do pose a choking hazard to children. Our products liability lawyers have watched as teething products, rattles, and other items that have had to be recalled because they were small enough that they were too easy to swallow.

Unfortunately, in many instances, safety recalls aren't announced until after someone has already gotten hurt. It is always a good idea to properly supervise your child/monitor the types of toys and other products he/she is allowed to use just in case. For older kids, smaller toys and toy parts should come with the proper warnings of any risks.

Our child injury lawyers represent families whose children were injured because a product was defective or posed some type of safety hazard. You should not be afraid to hold a negligent manufacturer, seller, or distributor liable for products liability.

Little Tikes Expands Recall of Toy Workshop and Tool Sets Due to Choking Hazard, CPSC, September 28, 2011

Children And Choking Hazards, CBS News

Choking Prevention for Children

More Blog Posts:
Choking, Entrapment, Fall, and Suffocation Hazards Prompt CPSC's Latest Recalls Involving Children and Infant Products, Product Liability Law Blog, April 5, 2011

Number of Button Battery-Linked Deaths and Injuries Rising, Says CPSC, Product Liability Law Blog, April 23, 2011

Strangulation, Choking, and Fall Hazards Prompt Recall of Baby Walkers, Clothing, and Books, Product Liability Law Blog, April 17, 2010

Continue reading "Little Tikes Recalls Another 1.7 Million Toy Workshop and Tool Sets Over Choking Hazard" »

When looking for children's gifts for the holiday season, it is important that you remain aware of the dangers that some of the toys in the marketplace pose. Granted, in an ideal world, it would be great if toy manufacturers only made toys that were safe for use and didn't pose choking, suffocation, aspiration, or strangulation hazards. Unfortunately, this isn't always the case, and every year, there are kids who end up with serious injuries because of a dangerous toy or another defective product.

Each year, World Against Toys Causing Harm (WATCH) issues its list of 10 Worst Toys List:

Pull Along Caterpillar: Comes with a breakaway pull string that can become a choking hazard.

Buzz Magnets: A child might choke if he/she swallows one of the small magnet pieces. Swallowing the magnets may cause internal injuries.

Ballzillion Tug Boat Play Center: Injuries or death can result if this toy is used as a flotation device.

Supasplat Splatblaster: This toy gun can cause injuries to the face, eyes, or other body parts.

Spy Gear Split-Blaster: Darts can be an eye injury hazard.

My First Mini Cycle: If a toddler falls off the cycle, head injuries are possible.

Kung Fu Panda Sword of Heroes: Although the sword is made of hard plastic, it can still cause serious impact injuries.

Walkaroo II Aluminum Stilts: Falling from the stilts can cause serious head injuries.

Big Bang Rocket: May cause hearing impairment.

Animal Alley Pony: The pony's fiber-like hair may cause ingestion problems or aspiration injuries.

U.S. PIRG, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups, recently issued its 2010 Trouble in Toyland Report. It offers safety guidelines of toy buyers and discusses some of the key hazards still found in kids' toys.

2010 Worst Toys List, WATCH

Top 6 Common Hazards, US PIRG

Related Web Resources:
Trouble in Toyland Report (PDF)

Consumer Reports

Continue reading "Stay Away from Dangerous Toys, Caution WATCH and PIRG" »

With Halloween just a few days away, the Food and Drug Administration is warning parents to be on the lookout for face paint that may contain lead, mercury, and other dangerous toxins. It turns out that using face paint, once thought a safer alternative to wearing a mask (which sometimes makes it hard for a child to see out of and can increase the chances of injury during a fall accident or a pedestrian accident), isn't necessarily a good idea.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics says it tested 10 of the more popular face paints out there and found that all of them contained lead. Six of them had skin allergens, including cobalt, nickel, and chromium, at levels higher than what the industry recommends. Also, the group discovered some labeling discrepancies. Some of the products say they are hypoallergenic when in fact they are not. One product's label noted that the face paint was hypoallergenic and nontoxic when it actually contains high levels of lead, nickel, and cobalt.

The levels of lead that the study detected in the face paints varied from .05 to .065 parts per million. Although this is lower than the federal government's limit for toys at 300 ppm, the medical community believes that any exposure to lead can be dangerous for kids.

For children, lead poisoning can lead to aggressive behavior, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, impaired neurological development, learning disabilities, hearing problems, muscle and joint pain, slowed growth, and brain damage.

It can't be good for a child to wear lead paint on the face. He or she might even end up licking and swallowing the paint. Our child injury lawyers represent the families of children who suffer from serious health issues or have serious injuries caused by a defective or a dangerous product.

If you decide to paint your child's face this Halloween, the FDA is recommending a number of safety precautions, including:

• Make sure that the paint you select is intended for use on human skin.
• If the paint smells bad, throw it out.
• Conduct a patch test first. Test it on a small area of the body to make sure an allergic reaction doesn't develop.
• Check ingredients on the product.
• Don't use face paint that is fluorescent or luminescent near the eye area.
• Wash off completely after use.

Happy Halloween!

Trick-or-treaters beware: Lead and other toxins in face paint could be scariest part of Halloween, NY Daily News, October 28, 2009

Warning: Halloween Face Paint Can Be Scary, The Daily Green, October 19, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Campaign for Safe Cosmetics

Food and Drug Administration

Childhood Lead Poisoning, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention

Continue reading "Dangerous Kids' Products: Lead in Paint Can Put a Scary Face on Halloween" »

Despite the massive product recalls in the past few years due to high levels of lead in certain consumer products, as well as the fact that the toxic ingredient has been banned from household paint for over 30 years, lead poisoning continues to be a health hazard—especially for young children. Lead is more dangerous for young kids, who absorb lead more easily into their bodies. Because their brains are more sensitive to lead than the adult brain, young children are more at risk of sustaining some of the serious injuries that can result from lead poisoning.

Just last week, a Mississippi family was awarded $7 million on behalf of a teenager that continues to experience developmental difficulties following exposure to toxic lead-based paint. Trellvion Gaines's family claims that he inhaled lead paint dust and chips while staying at his grandmother's home.

The residence was painted in the early 1970's using Sherwin-Williams paint. After the lead paint was banned, Gaines's family claims that they followed the directions provided by the paint maker to remove the old paint and replace it with safer paint. They contend, however, that the toxic paint chips and dust was created when they sanded and scraped the old paint (per the paint manufacturer's directions).

Gaines, who is in his late teens, now has learning disabilities and his reading abilities are equivialent to that of a second grader. Ingesting paint has been known to increase lead blood levels and cause lead poisoning, which has been linked to cognitive and developmental problems in kids, as well as other catastrophic complications, such as traumatic brain injuries, injuries to the nervous system, mental retardation, growth retardation, coma, and death.

Also this month, another family agreed to settle their New York lead poisoning lawsuit for $1.6 million. The Utica family claimed that four siblings were injured after they were exposed to lead paint chips in two different homes.

Rankeem Gilmore, 17, Tashawn Gilmore, 18, Delqwon Gilmore, 20, and Shaquanda Gilmore, 21, will divide the settlement that two landlords will pay them. Although lead paint can no longer be used to paint homes and other buildings, the toxic paint is still be found in many older homes in the US.

Products Liability Lawsuits
Product manufacturers are supposed to make sure that their toys, paint, and other products do not contain levels of lead that are dangerous enough to cause serious injury to people. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

Examples of products that may contain toxic levels of lead:

• Paint
• Drinking water
• Painted furniture
• Painted toys

Utica family awarded more than $1 million for lead exposure, UticaOD.com, June 13, 2009

Mississippi jury rules against Sherwin-Williams in lead paint contamination lawsuit, Newsday, June 30, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Lead Poisoning, Mayo Clinic

Toys and Lead, CDC

Consumer Products Safety Commission