Blumenthal Chairs Hearing on Holiday Safety Hazards

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Today, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chair of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security, convened a hearing titled “Hidden Holiday Hazards: Product Safety During the Holiday Season.” Blumenthal highlighted common hazards that can pose serious dangers to kids and families throughout the holiday season, including products with unsecured button batteries, small magnets, counterfeit toys with small parts that can be accidentally ingested, and malfunctioning holiday decorations that can cause fires.

“The holidays ought to be a time of really unsurpassed joy and celebration, but all too often they culminate in trips to emergency rooms because of dangers that result from toys and décor that is involved in the holidays,” said Blumenthal in his opening remarks. “What we know is that the repeated culprits are magnets, button cell batteries, small parts in ordinary toys, balloons.”

At today’s hearing, Blumenthal and U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) announced the introduction of Reese’s Law to create stronger federal standards for products with button cell and coin batteries. Every year, approximately 3,500 Americans swallow button batteries and the American Academy of Pediatrics estimates that only 11 percent of ingestions are properly reported, bringing the likely total to more than 30,000 people annually. The legislation is named in honor of Reese Hamsmith, an 18-month-old child who died last year after ingesting a button cell battery from a remote control. Reese’s mother and founder of Reese’s Purpose, Trista Hamsmith, testified at the hearing.

“We never knew about the dangers of battery ingestion. I hear from families all over the country on a daily basis that they did not either,” said Hamsmith in her testimony. “They share with me their story, their heartache, sometimes their near miss and long road to recovery. It is a club that I never wanted to be in. I wish I wasn’t standing here in front of you alone because that would mean Reese would be by my side.”

Blumenthal presented examples of hazardous products, including tea lights with loose button batteries, stating: “the button cell batteries that are found in these kinds of lights come out easily, can be swallowed, they are very small, by an 18 month old child as happened in your case Trista with Reese, or by pets or older people. These button cell batteries are a menace and every year, literally every year, thousands cause emergency room visits.”

Blumenthal held up other holiday gifts and items that may pose dangers to kids, including small magnets which can damage children’s internal organs if ingested, counterfeit toys that fail to comply with safety standards and lack accurate warning labels, balloons which are one of the most common causes of choking and asphyxiation for children, and unsafe automatic lights for Christmas trees which can cause fires.

Blumenthal emphasized that along with raising public awareness of these dangers, stronger enforcement by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is critical to ensure public safety. Blumenthal stressed the need to provide CPSC with additional resources and to expeditiously confirm the last outstanding CPSC nominee, Mary Boyle, stating: “They are the main watchdog and warning system for consumers so that these kinds of tragedies can be prevented.” In April, Blumenthal led the introduction of the bicameral Sunshine in Product Safety Act to repeal CPSC’s regulatory constraints and strengthen the agency’s ability to swiftly and adequately warn consumers about potentially unsafe products. Blumenthal reemphasized the importance of this legislation to “give the CPSC more of the teeth that it needs to be a real tiger, not a paper watchdog.”

Video of Blumenthal’s opening remarks can be found here. Video of Trista Hamsmith’s testimony can be found here. 

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