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CNN Live Today

Playing It Safe

Aired November 26, 2002 - 11:47   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Tis the season for toys, but you need to make sure that your tots aren't playing with duds. The government warns that there are thousands of recalled toys headed for a spot underneath the Christmas tree. So here to tell us about them, chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. He is Hal Stratton, and he joins us from Washington this morning.
Good morning, Hal.

I know we're going to about three products which have been recalled. Why don't we start with the Gearbox pedal cars. They're made by Alpha International, and I understand there's a problem with the paint on these toys, right?

HAL STRATTON, CHAIRMAN, CPSC: There is. This is the Gearbox pedal car right here, and this particular item has lead paint in it, and there is a ban on lead paint in children's toys. This came over from Korea, and it was recalled this year.

LIN: All right, and there's a chance that paint could peel off and kids might actually eat it?

STRATTON: Well, you know, kids ingest everything they can get their hands on. So when there's a potential like that, particularly of small children, it's been determined by the CPSC that that could happen, and so therefore, there's a ban on it. So we don't worry about actually going that far; we just worry about the lead is in the paint. If it's in the paint, we cut it off right there, and it's a violation of the regulations.

LIN: There you go. Better to be safe and sorry.

Let's take a look at these air-powered rockets with hand pumps.

STRATTON: Right. This is an air-powered rocket with a hand pump, and what you do is you pump the rocket up. The rocket looks like this. It's got a soft tip on it. Then you -- well, this one is not -- I'm going to see if I can get this one to work.

LIN: You're saying it has a foam tip that can break.

STRATTON: There it goes. The foam tip breaks off, just like you say, and then it has hard plastic which causes lacerations, and we've seen a number of detached retinas and other facial lacerations from these. And also the pump handle breaks off, and that will cause lacerations to the hands. We've seen a number of those, and this product was recalled earlier this year, so if anybody has this, they need to get rid of it and get it back to the manufacturer.

LIN: And there's something called Baby Walkers, and it's made by Oriental International Trading Company, and some of the characteristics here. Apparently, it's supposed to fit through a standard doorway, and it's not designed to stop at the edge of a step.

STRATTON: That's right. Several years ago, the CPSC got with industry and developed a voluntary standard for skids on the bottom of baby walkers, so when they go to the edge of stairs, they'll stop when they hit the skids right here. This one does not have those, and so when it comes to the edge of the stairs, it goes over the edge with your baby in it, and that is a violation of the regulation, and this particular walker has been recalled.

So even though these should have been off the market for a number of years, we still occasionally see them out there, and this along with a couple of others were on the market this year and were recalled in connection with the CPSC.

LIN: Well, it's a huge value for people to see what these toys look like, because I wouldn't have known them by name, but when you see them by sight, you can look in your closet and see what trouble lays ahead.

Thank you, Hal Stratton, actually chairman of the Consumer Products Safety Commission.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired November 26, 2002 - 11:47   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Tis the season for toys, but you need to make sure that your tots aren't playing with duds. The government warns that there are thousands of recalled toys headed for a spot underneath the Christmas tree. So here to tell us about them, chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. He is Hal Stratton, and he joins us from Washington this morning.
Good morning, Hal.

I know we're going to about three products which have been recalled. Why don't we start with the Gearbox pedal cars. They're made by Alpha International, and I understand there's a problem with the paint on these toys, right?

HAL STRATTON, CHAIRMAN, CPSC: There is. This is the Gearbox pedal car right here, and this particular item has lead paint in it, and there is a ban on lead paint in children's toys. This came over from Korea, and it was recalled this year.

LIN: All right, and there's a chance that paint could peel off and kids might actually eat it?

STRATTON: Well, you know, kids ingest everything they can get their hands on. So when there's a potential like that, particularly of small children, it's been determined by the CPSC that that could happen, and so therefore, there's a ban on it. So we don't worry about actually going that far; we just worry about the lead is in the paint. If it's in the paint, we cut it off right there, and it's a violation of the regulations.

LIN: There you go. Better to be safe and sorry.

Let's take a look at these air-powered rockets with hand pumps.

STRATTON: Right. This is an air-powered rocket with a hand pump, and what you do is you pump the rocket up. The rocket looks like this. It's got a soft tip on it. Then you -- well, this one is not -- I'm going to see if I can get this one to work.

LIN: You're saying it has a foam tip that can break.

STRATTON: There it goes. The foam tip breaks off, just like you say, and then it has hard plastic which causes lacerations, and we've seen a number of detached retinas and other facial lacerations from these. And also the pump handle breaks off, and that will cause lacerations to the hands. We've seen a number of those, and this product was recalled earlier this year, so if anybody has this, they need to get rid of it and get it back to the manufacturer.

LIN: And there's something called Baby Walkers, and it's made by Oriental International Trading Company, and some of the characteristics here. Apparently, it's supposed to fit through a standard doorway, and it's not designed to stop at the edge of a step.

STRATTON: That's right. Several years ago, the CPSC got with industry and developed a voluntary standard for skids on the bottom of baby walkers, so when they go to the edge of stairs, they'll stop when they hit the skids right here. This one does not have those, and so when it comes to the edge of the stairs, it goes over the edge with your baby in it, and that is a violation of the regulation, and this particular walker has been recalled.

So even though these should have been off the market for a number of years, we still occasionally see them out there, and this along with a couple of others were on the market this year and were recalled in connection with the CPSC.

LIN: Well, it's a huge value for people to see what these toys look like, because I wouldn't have known them by name, but when you see them by sight, you can look in your closet and see what trouble lays ahead.

Thank you, Hal Stratton, actually chairman of the Consumer Products Safety Commission.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com