30,000 Unsafe Hair Dryers Stopped by CPSC in 3-Month Period Apr 9, 2012

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Investigators with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) prevented more than half a million violative and hazardous imported products from reaching consumers in the first quarter of fiscal year 2012.

Among the products stopped include hair dryers, which accounted for more than a quarter of the non-children's products stopped by the CPSC from entering the United States. The CPSC stopped 20 different hair dryer models- about 30,000 units - from entering the country.

The majority (82%) of the products stopped were products for children. Of the 527,950 children products stopped: 47% had lead paint or violated other content regulations; 18% contained small parts; 15% contained phthalates in excess of the permanent ban limit. The remaining 20% were misbranded, had improper tracking labels, or violated other regulations such as sharp points or chemical hazards.

The CPSC stopped 119,410 non-children's products in the three months, or 18% of the total products stopped.

The CPSC worked with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents to screen more than 2,900 imported shipments at ports of entry into the United States. Some of these screenings involved use and abuse testing or the use of an X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzer.

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