The federal government has launched a terrific Web site to help consumers research products for safety, and to report unsafe products. The site is SaferProducts.gov. There really is a lot of information here, and you should check it out. Here is the description from the site:
SaferProducts.gov is the Publicly Available Consumer Product Safety Information Database website of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death from thousands of types of consumer products under the agency’s jurisdiction. CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from all unsafe consumer products, including those that pose a fire, electrical, chemical or mechanical hazard, or can injure children. CPSC’s work to ensure the safety of consumer products, such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters and household chemicals contributed significantly to the decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.
Through SaferProducts.gov, consumers, child service providers, health care professionals, government officials and public safety entities can submit reports of harm (Reports) involving consumer products. Manufacturers (including importers) and private labelers identified in Reports will receive a copy of the Report, and have the opportunity to comment on them. Completed Reports and manufacturer comments are published online at www.SaferProducts.gov for anyone to search.
CPSC was required to create a public portal and a publicly accessible, searchable database of consumer product incident reports by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), which became law on August 14, 2008.
