Dear Chairman Hoehn-Saric and Commissioners Feldman, Trumka, Boyle, and Dziak: As you may know, Consumer Reports (CR), the independent, nonprofit, and nonpartisan member organization, previously joined consumer, medical, and public health partner organizations in submitting joint comments to the CPSC on its notice of proposed rulemaking to add performance and labeling requirements for battery-operated toys containing button cell or coin cell batteries. Today, CR writes to provide additional findings from a recent evaluation we conducted that further supports these proposed requirements.
Recently, CR purchased and evaluated the packaging, labeling, and construction of 31 consumer products, including 15 toys, that contained button cell batteries. We found that almost one in three of the products, including toys marketed for children and toddlers, had dangerously accessible button batteries, and many more lacked clear warning labels about the severe health hazards these batteries pose.
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