Child Safety Blog

The artificial turf used in high school football fields may contain dangerous levels of lead:

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission opened an investigation this month after the New Jersey health department found elevated lead levels in two fields, which then were closed.

But until more information comes out, local school districts are not assuming that their fields contain unsafe levels of lead, several officials said.

"I'm not going to alarm parents. There's just not enough data to raise a red flag," said Paula Smith, an assistant superintendent at the Alief Independent School District. "We're in a holding pattern."

Hopefully this is a false alarm. The effects of lead, even small amounts, can be extremely dramatic (though this is usually found in younger children).

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Posted In: Product Liability

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Abigail Taylor, a six-year-old girl whose intestinal tract was ripped out by a swimming pool drain, died yesterday.

From the article:

Her parents, Scott and Katey Taylor, lobbied for tougher regulations to help prevent similar injuries, and in December, Congress approved legislation in December to ban the manufacture, sale or distribution of drain covers that don't meet anti-entrapment safety standards.

The Taylors also brought suit against the golf club where the pool injury occurred and the pool equipment manufacturer, Sta-Rite Industries owned by Pentair.

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Poor safety conditions in amusement parks are becoming a federal issue, thanks to widely publicized accidents and severe resulting injuries. This week, a House committee will consider a bill that would allow for more federal oversight of amusement parks.

The most famous recent accident on a defective amusement park ride occurred when a thirteen-year-old girl's feet were severed by a broken cable on a Tower of Power ride at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. But this past summer also brought on four deaths from such rides: two four-year-olds drowned in wavepools in two different amusement parks, a woman thrown from a spinning ride and a teenager who fell fifty feet from the top of a ride.

The only federal oversight of such rides comes from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which is toothless with respect to amusement parks due to lack of authority and lack of personnel. In addition, the amusement park industry has has highly effective lobbyists to fight investigations into these matters.

This situation leaves safety issues up to the informed consumer. Safer Parks is a good resource for information on how to protect both kids and adults in amusement parks. Two helpful pages on their site are Top Ten Tips for Parents and Teaching Kids to be Safe Riders.

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A new study from the University of Arkansas and Arkansas Children's Hospital shows that all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) pose a significant risk to children, according to the lead doctor involved in the research. An ATV is defined as any motorized vehicle with four low-pressure tires, handlebars for steering and control and a seat meant to be straddled by the operator.

The doctors studied 500 minors who came to the Children's Hospital over a period of eight years, all of whom were involved in ATV accidents. Of these five hundred, there were six fatalities (not counting those who died at the accident site, rather than at the hospital). More common were long-term disabilities and severe injuries.

The National Safety Council has a list of recommendations for ATV safety. Among these are restrictions regarding age and engine size, as well as a stern warning against multiple riders in an ATV. Another good resource is the ATV Safety Institute.

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Posted In: Cars , Product Liability

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A newly-released study, done over the course of six years by researchers at Cornell University, finds that even small amounts of lead in children's blood (below CDC guidelines for acceptable levels) make reduced IQ much more likely. This correlation holds true even when other factors that affect IQ--such as other environmental factors or genetics--are accounted for.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say that the maximum allowable blood-lead level is 10 micrograms per deciliter. But the new Cornell study focused on kids with between 0 and 10 micrograms per deciliter, and found that those in the 0-5 range had average IQs of about five points higher than those in the 5-10 range. The unavoidable conclusion is that even when lead poisoning is less than what the CDC deems harmful, it can still have significant negative effects on children's developing brains.

Those who are poor are at greater risk for lead poisoning, as lead is often found in the paint of old or poorly-maintained buildings. Lead poisoning has been in the news lately, because of the Mattel recall and other toy safety issues. This very morning, New York State recalled children's jewelry from stores including Michael's and Big Lots because they contained hazardous levels of lead. It is important to remember that houses are the most common source of lead-related brain damage.

The researchers involved in this study had previously published another, similar study in 2003. They found then, as they did again now, that blood-lead levels are related "inversely and significantly" to IQ. Clearly, this is a serious problem that needs to be recognized and addressed.

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Posted In: Building Safety , Product Liability , Toys

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