Consumer Product Safety Commission announced on April 28 the following voluntary recalls:

The U.S. government recently filed a lawsuit against Michaels Stores for the company’s late reporting of a consumer product safety hazard and failure to disclose that it was the importer of the unsafe product, said the Consumer Product Safety Commission in a press release issued April 22 (here). According to the complaint filed in Northern Texas U.S. District Court, Michaels knew glass vases it imported and sold in its stores were so thin that they would easily break and cut the hands of the person holding the vase, but failed to report the hazard to CPSC for over a year. When the company finally did report the problem, it said it was not the importer even though it was importer of record of the vases, allowing it to avoid legal and financial responsibility for the resulting recall, said the complaint.

Consumer Product Safety Commission announced on April 23 the following voluntary recalls:

Consumer Product Safety Commission announced on April 22 the following voluntary recalls:

Consumer Product Safety Commission announced on April 21 the following voluntary recalls:

Consumer Product Safety Commission announced on April 14 the following voluntary recalls:

Consumer Product Safety Commission announced on April 14 the following voluntary recalls:

Consumer Product Safety Commission announced on April 8 the following voluntary recalls:

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has received a request to amend flammability test procedures for textiles, it said in a notice (here). The International Association of Users of Artificial and Synthetic Filament Yarns and of Natural Silk says current requirements for conditioning (i.e., bringing a fabric up to a desired temperature and humidity before testing flammability) are unrealistic and produce unreliable results. The current standard for silk, as well as other textile materials, should be brought in line with the relevant industry standards, said the trade group in its petition. Comments on the petition are due June 8.

Enforcement of the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s mandatory standard for magnet sets is on hold, after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit on April 1 issued a stay at the request of a magnet importer. Zen Magnets is challenging the final rule CPSC issued in October setting the standard (see 14100214), which was set to take effect April 1. The safety standard limits the strength of magnets that can fit inside CPSC’s small parts cylinder. Zen Magnets says it is the only remaining U.S. distributor of the magnet sets regulated by CPSC’s final rule, after enforcement efforts by the agency caused several companies to stop selling them or go out of business (see 12122017 and 14051419).