Over the past few years, the media has paid increasingly close attention to the presence of hazardous, toxic and defective consumer products available in the marketplace. Despite heightened legal consequences for marketing dangerous products and increased enforcement of product safety laws, defective and dangerous consumer products seem to be abundantly available for purchase.
Unfortunately, it can be difficult for American consumers to remain informed about the safety of the items they purchase. From spinach in the supermarket to plastic toys for children to the cars we all drive, dangerous products seem to be everywhere. As a result, many Americans are suffering from recall burnout. There are so many products we come into contact with every day that remaining educated about the latest recalls can be overwhelming and feel like a process best left alone.
The government has recognized that remaining informed about safety recalls relevant to the lives of each individual American is prohibitively challenging. As a result, it has created a Recalls.gov application for smartphone users and a recall alert system via email launched by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
These two tools can empower Americans to take product safety into their own hands. By remaining educated about unsafe products and employing a user-friendly mechanism to report unsafe products, Americans can help to ensure that adults and children alike remain safe from toxic, dangerous and defective products.
If you are suffering from recall burnout, consider downloading the new app or receiving email alerts from the CPSC. Checking these tools for relevant information may ultimately save your life or the life of your child.
Source: Echo Press, “Families can sign up for dangerous product, toy recall alerts,” Mar. 17, 2013