Good morning and welcome to this public meeting of the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission We have one item on our agenda this morning And that is our annual public hearing on the Commission's agenda and priorities for the next two fiscal years Throughout the course of my last four years I've said often that our mission is aided by the input and the insight from all of our stakeholders And I'm grateful today to those of you who've chosen to present and Those who have submitted written testimony to the agency as well for taking your time your effort and your resources To share your thoughts and your experience with our agency your input is truly invaluable to our agency and I would pause a moment and say to all of you and and those of Who are watching us on the web webcast? That we do have this this is our annual priorities hearing But I would say to all of you if you have an issue or a problem or a Solution to something or a concern that you would know that the door of the CPSC is always open And you don't need to wait till this occasion to come here and express yourselves I know I speak for myself as well as my fellow colleagues my the commissioners and all of our agency that our Door is always open, and we hope you will share your good ideas or your concerns with us This morning the presenters have been divided into two panels each presenter will have ten minutes to deliver their opening comments Our secretary Alberta Mills will keep track of the time for us Thank you to Ms. Mills and Ms. Hammon for and all of the office of the secretary for their assistance today I would just ask the presenters that you watch the lights in front of yourselves to track Your remaining time the yellow light indicates you have one minute remaining After the presentations by all of the panel members the commissioners will have five minutes each for questions If the commissioners have additional questions, we'll just continue after that first round is complete Out of respect for our panelists I just want to make sure that we make an effort to stay on time so that everyone can meet the deadlines that they may have to meet We will keep the record open so all of you know for one week after today's hearing So if you did not get a chance to say something that you wanted to say and you feel is important Please know that you can come back and comment on that and this is not your only opportunity to share those thoughts You are welcome to supplement whatever testimony you have provided or further in writing with until the next week We are happy to receive that and of course we will consider it as part of the record So with that I'll begin with our first panel this morning Our first panel the includes Nancy Coles from Kids in Danger. Welcome Nancy Mr. Chuck Samuels from the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers. Good morning Dr. Diana Zuckerman from the National Center for Health Research. Good morning Mr. William Wallace from the Consumer's Union. Good morning and Dr. Ben Hoffman from the American Academy of Pediatrics And I understand Dr. Hoffman. I think you get the award for traveling the farthest All the way from Oregon So with that Mrs. Coles would you begin? Sure. Thank you very much. Thank you for this opportunity every year It's a wonderful opportunity for us to come and talk about what's important What we see parents talking about and the issues that we hope you'll focus on this year As you know Kids in Danger is dedicated to protecting children by fighting for product safety Following are my thoughts on the priorities. You can read all of my recommendations in the written comments that I submitted Through the implementation of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act and the part we call Danny's Law The CPSC has put much time and energy into developing mandatory standards for durable infant and toddler products Staff has been thorough and determined to develop strong standards that address all known hazards We urge CPSC to continue to prioritize this work giving staff the time and resources They need to develop these strong standards that reduce injuries and deaths from nursery products We were dismayed to see that five of these products fell off the list heading for final rules or proposed rules And we're delegated back to data analysis and review in the mid-year review We hope it doesn't Indicate a slowing interest in the standard development process under section 104 and is merely an Acknowledgement that the work is lagging behind the goals set by the law While CPSC has worked with the STM subcommittees on developing section 104 rules Nothing in the regulation requires CPSC to delay and act in protections while they wait for the ASTM to act Particularly disheartening is the delay in the high chair rule 11,000 children under five are rushed to emergency rooms every year from injuries related to high chairs This standard to be given highest priority not moved again to the back of the line and While CPSC took action to add crib bumper pads to section 104 rules and begin rulemaking We would prefer to see a ban of padded crib bumper pads The AAP has a strong recommendation against using these products. They are unnecessary and unsafe The amount of time and money that will go into designing a specific test method for suffocation risk from these unnecessary Products would be better spent joining Maryland Ohio the city of Chicago and most state child care regulators in the country and Ban crib bumper pads We would ask that if a mandatory standard is developed instead of the ban That it prohibit it be written in such a way that it prohibit the padded bumpers And even with mesh liners as more and more enter the market if they are allowed under the standard It should include specific performance requirements that assure their safety. I Also like to address the list of products that is included in section 104 The list was originally created in 2001 and updated in 2008 when CPSC began work on CPSAA Other products have been added later as incidents pointed to the need for a safety standard Just as standards evolve as new designs introduce new potential hazards the group of products covered by Danny's law Should evolve as new products enter the market parents should have confidence that all durable infant and toddler products Not just those that were commonplace at the time the law was adopted are safe Danny's law also requires companies to provide product registration cards and a way to register online We were dismayed to learn recently that at one least one major brand has violated that Rule by sending a consumer eight marketing emails in the two months after she registered Because of section 6b, we don't know how often this happens or if you take any action The benefit of direct notification is so important to effective recalls violations must be taken seriously Consumers are already biased to believe the companies play fast and loose with their personal information This confirmation of a company doing just that with this legally protected information Will confirm that bias and have a direct negative impact on product registration numbers Speaking of those numbers it would be very helpful to see public information on the numbers of products being registered The percent of product owners in a recall who can be notified directly and if those response rates are higher than general public notification rates I'm going to skip over safer products dot gov. No, I think it's very important The Development of safer products dot gov was in part a compromise on transparency We were looking instead for repeal of section 6b of the consumer product safety act simply put It's a gag order restricting your ability to warn the public about product hazards and keeping consumers in the dark about Products that they have in their homes and use with their families every day Parents should not have to wait until a full recall effort is complete before learning their child is sleeping in a deadly crib Playing with a lead tainted toy or riding in a stroller prone to losing a wheel Specifically we urge the CPSC to avoid allowing companies to hide information incorrectly behind section 6b in Some recent FOIA reports companies have used it to hide information that's already contained in the recall press release Numbers of responses to recalls and other information that is not we believe protected by 6b CPSC should look for ways to weaken Section 6b's impact on public information and safety and perhaps join us in calling on Congress to consider repeal We were very pleased to see the recent vote to publish the monthly corrective action reports We only hope they don't look like the ones we get full of mistakes or with every bit of useful information redacted Among children's product safety issues a safe sleep environment is an overriding concern to kids in danger Suffocation most of it in a sleeping environment is the leading cause of unintentional death in infants The number of sleep-related deaths is too high. It's a public health crisis and it has to be addressed These products that are made for sleep are intended to be safe for sleep for a child even without an adult indirect supervision We've seen on the market cushions that prop up babies specific products like the nap nanny or their copycat products Or products intended to help babies share in adult beds such as the doc a tot they enter the market with little or no testing CPSC should continue their work to develop standards for all sleep products and Make it a priority within the small business Ombudsman's office to provide outreach and vital product safety information to companies making these products a quick Google search We'll provide plenty of examples In 2016 last year we work with Shane's foundation to do our first product testing on furniture We work with technicians at a UL lab in Holland, Michigan and perform perform Conducted performance tests on a sample of 19 dressers and chests only nine of the 19 units passed the performance tests That are currently in the voluntary standard and only two of the units passed all the tests we developed Interestingly we have seen only four of the units from two manufacturers recalled Leaving at least six units that we found failed the voluntary standards still being sold and in homes Kid recommends CPSC continue to work to support anchor it to reach parents with the need for Anchoring furniture encourage innovation in design of furniture and tip restraints and work together with stakeholders on a stronger standard Pacifiers an integral part of baby care a soothing product beneficial to infants and one that goes directly into their mouth It's on our radar because we are continually Contacted by parents whose pacifiers either fall apart or present other hazards a quick look at safer products dot gov report shows Incident and injury reports that raise questions as to whether a view of your pacifier state safety standard is required With continuing reports and recalls we would ask that you begin to look at that standard and make sure it addresses the hazards That we're seeing in the marketplace We spent a lot of time yesterday talking about recall effectiveness. I want to thank chairman Burkle and CPSC staff for that opportunity And won't go into the the comments we made there as they were fully expressed yesterday But decreasing the likelihood that another family will suffer as Danny's family did from a recalled product still in the marketplace It's one of our top priorities, and we hope it is for the CPSC to Again, thank you for the opportunity to provide comments We look forward to working with you in addressing these concerns and others that may arise Thank you very much mr. Samuels Thank you acting chairman Burkle, and I hope that title is shortened very soon and commissioners The association of home appliance manufacturers appreciates the opportunity to testify for you today, and I'm Chuck Samuels It's general counsel First I want to congratulate you but really more particularly the staff for running an excellent workshop yesterday I thought it was very productive. I learned a lot, and I'm I hope that there's a lot of follow-up on it That will be very beneficial And I also hope that you'll conduct similar events like this in the future on other subjects I want to talk to you about four Matters that affect your budget and your plan and supplement our written comments The first is alternative refrigerants as you know the United States and the globe is transitioning from Greenhouse gases the alternative refrigerants many of which are flammable to some degree We have decades of experience in refrigeration and air conditioning and using these refrigerants, but It's obviously critical that it be evaluated in particular For safety in the United States really in in North America And we appreciate that Commissioner Kay supported the staff's involvement in standards efforts at UL with respect to refrigerators that culminated recently in a very beneficial change to the safety standard that allows Some of these refrigerants to be used but in a way that ensures continued safety to to American consumers But this is only the beginning not the end There are hosts of other refrigeration and air conditioning products that are looking at the same transition and although obviously we had an election and we have a new administration that has a considerably different view on Climate issues the general trend to minimize the use of greenhouse gases is going to continue in the United States and globally Therefore we need continued staff participation in standards Activities for some of these other products in our case room air conditioners dehumidifiers and portable air conditioners And I hope that you'll you'll continue to to support this Neither we nor you Can have surprises in the future. We need to understand What we're doing why we're doing it and have a comfort level by the regulators By industry by the standards organizations and and all and all stakeholders And so it's important that we get this right from the beginning and that it's already it's it's very transparent about what is What is occurring? I would say in that regard One thing and this is true for other activities as well is that it's important that you coordinate with other federal agencies? So for example in this particular issue The policies the Department of Energy and EPA are critical Since obviously your activities don't go through OMB you may miss out sometimes on some of these potential coordinating In integration roles. It's our job as the regulated industry to make you aware of them And I hope that you'll be you'll be open to them The second thing I want to talk about is counterfeit refrigerator water filters The United States is being deluge with counterfeit refrigerator water filters Many of which probably most of which are sold on the internet these products brazenly use the the brands of legitimate manufacturers and claim compliance with Structural and safety standards that are completely false The consequence of this is not only do many of these products not Perform the functions that they claim that they're going to Do but even worse many of them actually add Contaminants to the drinking water such as arsenic. We've taught you about this individually and We are Continuing intensifying our effort in this area We ask for your support. We ask for your involvement with customs and even your involvement Internationally, this would be an issue to take up with your counterpart Chinese regulator because that's where these products are Coming from so Thank you for your interest so far, but let's continue to work together on both Education and and compliance efforts, and we're continuing research and of course will keep you fully apprised of that situation third I want to talk about the old refrigerator safety act and Ask that You Work with us and others on a cooperative effort to see if it's possible to Reduce maybe get rid entirely of the administrative burden On a legal requirement that has no impact on safety and simply costs manufacturers money We're required to get involved in the GCC system because of this act But substantively the refrigerator safety act which hasn't been updated for way over 50 years Has nothing to do with modern refrigerators and has been completely supplanted by the ul Standard in fact the latch mechanisms that that that law talks about which were a significant hazard in the 1950s and In early and early 60s have not and could not be used for for many many decades And but on the other hand the ul standard does keep up with with modern technology We would like to you to consider whether there'd be some way to change your the regulatory requirements Consistent with the law exercise some enforcement discretion as you did for example on on wearing the peril and ultimately Agree with us to support a change in the law So that we can make some regulatory form and then you'll have one Maybe you can give to other agencies in the executive branch under the two for one executive order That doesn't apply to you and you'll be like a hero, but this would be very very helpful to our industry I think this is a great opportunity now to take a look at it. I hope you'll you'll work with us on it Finally, I want to make a more general point about Joint or cooperative research between Industry and the CPSC in the last few years We've had the opportunity very productively to work with the staff In areas in which we were doing research and the staff was doing research I would say the highlight of that is probably on cooking fires In which we did some parallel and ultimately coordinated studies that ended up in a significant Changes to the to the safety standards that's going to over time reduce many fires and many injuries but we still have a problem of a lack of transparency, frankly and Where we're surprised or not knowledgeable about research work that's going on within the Commission And there's there's no benefit to that It would be much better if we fully understood the relevant research agenda explained to you as we have been What what we're doing and then see where we can work together. We're not talking about you Funding us. We're not looking for that, but there are MOUs and cooperative research agreements and even much more informal arrangements that would be much more efficient use of all of our resources and prevent Surprises that don't benefit anyone. So I hope although that's not really a specific item That that culturally we can we can work towards that that change over time That's all I have and obviously I'd like to answer any questions. Thanks. Thank you very much. Dr. Zuckerman I'm dr. Diana Zuckerman and president of the National Center for Health Research, which is a nonprofit organization That's staffed by scientists and medical professionals and public health professionals But I also want to say we provide a lot of information to families across the country on health and safety issues I'm not going to Stay too close to my written remarks today I want to thank you for the opportunity to be here and say how much we greatly respect the work of the Consumer Product Safety Commission as well as the challenges you face in setting priorities for so many things that need to be priorities and As a scientist, I'm going to focus on some scientific issues today, but I share the concerns of many consumer Speakers that you're going to hear from today So I'm going to focus on phthalates and other endocrine disrupting chemicals Particularly those and products that are widely used by children and also that pregnant women get exposed to and in addition to toys And other frequently used products I'm going to focus on playgrounds Athletic fields and even sidewalks made with tire crumb rubber and other artificial turf Including what's called poured-in-place surfaces As you know the Consumer Product Safety Commission has been a champion for children with its careful analysis of phthalates and toys and and also products for children under three years of age and Particularly the products specifically for children under three are not the only ones that pose risks to our families We also need to be concerned about phthalates in many products So we think of hard surfaces like this as being hard, but actually there's always dust coming up This is a very clean room, but there's dust coming up at all times. We're breathing that in we're touching it If we're a child we're then putting it in our mouths so We have to be concerned about this Dust migrating into our environment and our homes and our bodies As you probably know phthalate metabolites are Detectable in just about every person in this room and in this country and many of them are endocrine disruptors Which means they disrupt our hormones and that can have long-term effects on our health and on our children's Development and even on our children's ability to learn So our center provided a lot of scientific Information to the to Capitol Hill and in that way we were instrumental in shaping the law That resulted in permanent and temporary bans on six phthalates and children's toys and child care articles Those bans need to be expanded over two years ago. This agency proposed the rule Following the chronic hazard advisory panel chap and this rule is absolutely essential for providing additional protections for our children So we support the permanent bans on four additional phthalates and making permanent the interim ban on dinp The chap report also recommended an interim ban on DI OP, which should also be included in the rule We strongly disagree with the proposal to lift the interim ban on DNOP and DIDP and while they may not affect male hormones They are associated with organ toxicity believe me not a good thing and Altered development of all types. So the chap report also recommended additional studies on three other phthalates and six phthalate alternatives and the final rule should include a timeline of For the completion of those studies that reflects how damaging those phthalates can be We also urge you to expand your work to include products and couldn't cause prenatal exposures as well as those that can Harm older children and other vulnerable adults Phthalate exposure has been found to increase the risk of early puberty Which is a big problem in this country many children starting puberty at the age of nine and ten a Time when they still don't even know how to make change for a dollar and they're having to deal with hormones affecting their bots and feelings and This is especially important a study just came out the last few days a meta analysis of over a hundred studies Showing that sperm count is less than half of what it was just a generation ago So we know that these chemicals can affect sperm count and they're affecting fertility in this country These exposures also affect pregnant and breastfeeding women and their children and And that in through that it can affect brain development and the reproductive system Phthalates and household dust can be very dangerous regardless of what products it comes from Artificial turf made with recycled tire crumb rubber and other products has similar risks Because it's widely used It can release chemicals that affect the health of our children of all ages It can affect pregnant women and it can affect athletes and other adults Artificial turf is currently used on more than 12,000 athletic fields and many many playgrounds in this area for those of you Who live here as well as all across the country and most parents are completely unaware of these risks The scientific evidence suggests that crumb rubber as well as poured-in-place rubber and other artificial turf Have safety hazards When they're used on playgrounds and playing fields the rubber from recycled tires But even those from what are called virgin tires or virgin rubber is Not comprised only of rubber from a rubber plant instead. It includes lots of chemicals It includes phthalates PAH VOCs heavy metals and other chemicals that are known or suspected to be harmful and in addition to disrupting chemicals They can increase a person's chances of developing cancer While just a one-time or sporadic exposure might not matter very much You know many of these fields are used by children every single day And if not every day then at least every week for years and It's being used during a critical time when they're very vulnerable to exposure Artificial turf made with crumb rubber and poured rubber products can also cause short-term harm For example crumb rubber has been found to generate dust which can exacerbate asthma and children and The products heat up they're much hotter than the air is so that they can be they can even cause burns In addition They can be they seem softer But they can actually be so hard that they're more likely to cause concussions and other injuries So while we can conclude that good old-fashioned grass is actually pretty safe. We can't conclude that about these Surfaces which are everywhere and let me say a lot of them are very very pretty. They're beautiful colors. They look very Child-friendly, they're very dangerous and As often the case when researchers are paid by those with conflicts of interest some studies are saying that these products are safe However, the studies that are more reassuring don't comprehensively evaluate the health risks from these products For example, many of the studies of air quality Are looking at stationary measures? They're not looking at what happens when kids are jumping up and down on them and playing on them And so you have to look at what happens during activity not just when it's sitting there and nobody's doing anything with them you can't just Expose half of our children to these playgrounds and the other half not and see what happens You can't do a study like that. It wouldn't be possible and it wouldn't be ethical Because we know that there are carcinogens in these in these products So it's going to be very hard to study them But the studies that have been done so far really concern us a lot We're encouraged that this agency is working with other federal agencies to investigate the safety of crumb rubber on Playgrounds and playing fields and we strongly urge you to broaden that Your investigation to include other synthetic rubber products and to provide warnings to families and athletes as soon as possible Because the public has very limited access to information about that They don't even know whether to be concerned and all Americans are really relying on you On this agency to protect us and to protect our children So in summary we just want to strongly urge you to consider these views To expand the scope of your concern about phthalates to these other very widely used products That children are in some cases using every day and that parents have no control over it They can't decide what to buy these playgrounds are everywhere. Thanks very much. Thank you very much. Dr. Zuckerman. Mr. Wallace Good morning on behalf of consumers Union the policy and mobilization arm of consumer reports an independent nonprofit Thank you for the opportunity to testify Throughout CRCU's history Identifying marketplace hazards and improving product safety has always been a core part of our mission Today we have highlighted several topics that we hope the CPSC will emphasize in fiscal years 2018 and 2019 We address additional topics in our written comments First we urge the CPSC to prioritize several substantial hazards that consumers encounter around their house Or apartment or home or even in their pocket these hazards can be hidden. They may be unknown or poorly understood These include furniture and TV tip-overs CO and smoke alarm Laundry detergent packets window covering cords and the safety of battery and electronic systems Second we urge the CPSC to prioritize several hazards associated with consumer products used outdoors Which represent a significant focus of ours at consumer reports? These include carbon monoxide poisoning from portable generators Lacerations from pressure washers amputations and other injuries from table sauce and pool safety Third hazards related to products designed for some of our most vulnerable infants and toddlers should remain a top CPSC priority This includes ensuring safe sleep products and moving forward on both pending and future section 104 standards under the CPSIA Fourth we urge the CPSC to take several steps on chronic hazards Finally the CPSC is a critical agency that is chronically under resourced It's overall budget, staffing levels and communication and outreach efforts should all be increased To start we highlight the topic of furniture and TV tip-overs We appreciate the agency's work to improve public awareness of the hazard from furniture and television tip-overs However with more than 30,000 emergency department treated injuries and nearly 500 fatalities every year associated with this hazard The commission should use every tool at its disposal to ensure known risks are eliminated We've pressed for a stronger voluntary industry standard on clothing storage units But we have not seen the kind of urgency and industry-wide accountability that consumers need Carbon monoxide and smoke alarms Deaths and injuries from home fires and unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning remain significant And consumer reports stresses the importance of installing and maintaining smoke and co alarms In march 2017 we named three co alarms purchased on amazon and ebay as don't buy safety risk Due to poor performance and no certification to the ul co alarm standard We reported our findings to the cpsc and to both retailers which stopped selling the products We look forward to continuing to work with the agency in this area liquid laundry packets Recent investigative work by consumer reports examining cpsc data Shows that liquid laundry detergent packets pose a significant safety problem including for adults with dementia With regard to young children We are working closely with all stakeholders to ensure that there is adequate data to measure the voluntary standards effectiveness However, if that standard proves inadequate the cpsc should consider an enforceable mandatory standard Also consumer reports recommends that households were children younger than six or cognitively impaired adults are ever present Should avoid these products until there is a significant Meaningful decline in injuries Window covering cords Efforts to address the risk of injury to young children from hazardous accessible window covering cords remain inadequate We continue to urge the cpsc to develop a mandatory standard to eliminate the risk of strangulation Battery and electronic system safety In the second half of 2016 alone the cpsc recalled more than 2.5 million units due to lithium ion battery fire hazards Including samsung galaxy note 7 smartphones that were not initially recalled in coordination with the agency Given this troubling episode And other recent electrical system problems in products such as hoverboards We urge the cpsc to continue its research on battery safety And keep pressure on manufacturers to build safe electrical systems that meet effective standards portable generators With an average of about 70 deaths and several thousand non fatal injuries annually It is tragically clear that education and warning labels alone are not enough to protect consumers from the risks of portable generators We agree with the commission that performance requirements are needed A comprehensive safety standard should include both prevention and detection based approaches We support the cpsc's proposed rule and also have urged the agency to consider a shut-off mechanism as a fail-safe We are aware of recent developments regarding the voluntary standard Being crafted by portable generator manufacturers and look forward to reviewing a proposed standard soon pressure washers Our analysis of cpsc data on pressure washers published in the march 2016 issue of consumer reports Showed that pressure washers sent an estimated 6,057 people to the emergency room in 2015 alone Due to an extreme potential risk of laceration We are no longer recommending pressure washers that come with nozzles that produce sprays of less than 15 degrees And are asking manufacturers to stop including such tips and sayings The cpsc should consider making the same recommendation table saws More than 30,000 blade related table saw injuries occur annually with an average of more than 10 amputations every day We were pleased to see the commission publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in may to address these injuries A performance standard to limit the depth of a cut is a sensible feasible approach and could yield aggregate net benefits of billions We urge the cpsc to finalize the mandatory safety standard for table saws pool safety More than 4,100 children younger than age five suffer submersion injuries and require emergency room treatment every year About half are seriously injured and admitted to the hospital for further treatment Pool safety should remain a cpsc priority as injuries and deaths remain high Safe sleep The presence of dangerous padded crib mumpers on store shelves is misleading to consumers and the products should not be for sale We support ongoing work at astm and at the state and local level To ensure that unsuspecting parents or caregivers do not put their children at risk After after market mattresses for certain cribs play pens and play yards also pose a risk to infants And their sale is inconsistent with the warning label required by the voluntary standard astm f 406 15 We were pleased to see the majority of commissioners vote recently to direct cpsc staff to initiate a related rulemaking under cpsia section 104 Recently baby boxes have increased in popularity here in the united states These products do not meet any relevant safety standards And consumer reports has reminded parents and caregivers that the safest place for a baby to sleep is a crib meeting cpsc standards We encourage cpsc support for standards development activities to ensure these products are safe pending in future section 104 standards We strongly support and applaud the agency's ongoing efforts under cpsia section 104 The agency should pursue strong final rules including those addressing hazards associated with booster seats infant inclined sleep products and baby changing products We also look forward to reviewing proposed rules in the near future regarding several other product types Given their demonstrated record of success We urge the commission in the next two years to keep its section 104 activities a top priority chronic hazards The agency should finalize its thalates rule without additional delay It should address under the fhsa Hazards presented by non polymeric additive organo halogen flame retardants and children's products and other product categories We also offer our support for your in-house and interagency work As we undertake our own efforts to decipher trends and data Trends from data on chronic hazards Cpsc's capabilities The agency should receive additional funding and staff to implement programs to prevent consumer harm And respond to safety problems including through import and marketplace surveillance In addition, we continue to strongly support safer products.gov and the agency should continue its efforts to make the database as up to date Consumer friendly and frequently used as possible both by those who submit complaints and the agency in follow-up investigations On the public communication side It is critical for the cpsc to be a vocal advocate for consumer safety the way it has been in the past Such as on issues like the galaxy note seven Samsung galaxy note seven recalls and the ikea recalls for furniture that could too easily tip onto young children The cpsc should continue to play its critical role in informing the public about potential hazards as quickly and as prominently as possible In conclusion, we greatly appreciate the cpsc's efforts to address hazards associated with consumer products And applaud the commission for its leadership and achievements over the last year We look forward to continuing to work with the agency and all stakeholders to save lives and fulfill the cpsc's mission in 2018 and 2019 Thank you very much. Mr. Wallace dr. Hoffman Good morning chairman berkel and members of the commission. Thank you so much for having me today My name is dr. Ben Hoffman. I'm honored to be here today on behalf of the american academy of pediatrics I'm a pediatrician and I currently serve as the chair of the aap's council on injury Violence and poison prevention executive committee I'm a professor of pediatrics at the oregon health science university in portland oregon and medical director of the tom sarge A safety center there The aap appreciates the opportunity to make recommendations to the cpsc on its agenda and priorities For the upcoming fiscal years unintentional injuries remain the number one cause of death for children 1 to 19 And the fifth leading cause of death for newborns and infants under the age of one pediatricians parents and caregivers trust that the products that they provide for their children are safe Because cpsc monitors hazards to proactively prevent harm to children You may have noticed that many of our recommendations to the commission are similar to the ones we made last year We feel that cpsc's work is far from done and needs to move more quickly Rather than reduce regulations We believe that cpsc has the capacity to do more as the regulatory agency entrusted with making the products With which children's sleep live grow play and thrive as safe as possible I'll walk through some of the areas that the aap believes the cpsc should prioritize in the coming years in order to protect Children's health and safety my complete testimony has been submitted in writing Safe sleep messaging the aap deeply appreciates the cpsc's ongoing work to promote safe sleep But much work remains to reduce the high incidents of sudden sudden unexplained infant death or suede While much progress was made on suede early in government efforts We've seen very little progress in reducing suede in a decade or more and in some high risk groups The rates are going in the wrong direction We call on the cpsc to use its position to promote improved understanding of how to best promote safe sleep among high risk families And to reduce the hazard posed by certain infant sleep products The commission should continue its work in promoting safe sleep behaviors and removing unsafe sleep products from the marketplace We continue to see new unregulated sleep products in the market every month And we remain very deeply concerned that parents are placing their infants in these products believing that they are safe In fact, for most of them, there is no standard and no testing done to make sure they will not suffocate a child The role of the cpsc Is key in keeping such products off the market And i'm happy to have a follow-up discussion with the commission about specific unregulated sleep products of concern Echoing the comments of miss cowells and mr. Wallace the cpsc should also strengthen its safe sleep messaging by banning crib bumpers We appreciate that the commission staff has been directed to develop a performance standard for crib bumpers to reduce Hazard suffocation and we urge you not to slow this work down There is no evidence that bumper pads prevent injuries And there are risks of suffocation strangulation and entrapment that greatly outweigh any potential perceived benefit Further the aap supports a ban on supplemental mattresses and play yards has also been discussed These products pose a suffocation hazard to infants and we are very pleased to see legislation banning them advance recently in new jersey The availability of these supplemental mattresses is contradictory to the safety standards for cribs and play yards and it undermines the efforts to promote safe sleep environments These regulatory actions investigation of optimal safe sleep messaging and sustained public health communication will be central to cpsc efforts to address suede liquid nicotine We urge the cpsc to continue and expand its efforts to enforce aap supported child nicotine prevention act of 2015 pediatricians stand ready to work with you and um your staff to support these critical enforcement efforts High powered magnet sets the aap was among the group strongly supportive of a ban on high powered magnet sets due to the grave injuries that are caused when they are ingested in multiples The aap applauded the 2013 recalls of dangerous products by the cpsc and health canada and the cpsc is 2014 safety standard to make magnets safer And prevent the sale of unsafe magnets after many children suffered critical injuries and even died following ingestion Recent research shows that the cpsc and health canada efforts to ban these high powered magnets Was working to protect children Researchers set out to study the impact of canada's recall by comparing data on magnet ingestion at the hospital for sick children in toronto during the two years before the recall 2011 and 12 and two years after the recall in 2014 and 15 In the two early years there were 22 multiple magnet ingestions resulting in six operations and nine endoscopic procedures In the two years following the recall there were only five ingestions requiring only one operation and four endoscopic procedures The authors could not determine whether an education campaign alone could have had the same impact as the recall We were therefore deeply concerned by a decision of a panel of judges on the tenth circuit court of appeals to vacate The cpsc rule to ban dangerous high powered magnets We urged the cpsc to reinstate this ban Expeditiously as a court's ruling to overturn the cpsc ban on high powered magnets jeopardizes children's health and safety We simply cannot afford to let these life-threatening magnets to find their way back to shelves TV and furniture tipovers The ap is eager to see the cpsc and industry to do more To ban to prevent furniture and tv tipovers We remain deeply saddened that seven children have died because of unsafe ikea dressers These deaths could have and should have been prevented We are glad to see ikea finally recall millions of units of the ubiquitous malm dresser However, we're concerned by reports that ikea's recall efforts have been ineffective And that consumers seeking to do the right thing have not gotten adequate or timely responses from ikea I can tell you anecdotally I have spoken with a number of patient families for whom ikea that have purchased these dressers And they have spent hours on the phone trying to trying to meet the recall and remain very frustrated While we appreciate the educational efforts that both the cpsc and ikea have made using the anchor it and secure it campaigns The best solution is simply to design a safe dresser that will not tip over and harm or kill children Like furniture tipovers tv tipovers can result in horrific injuries or even death Restraints securing these items to the wall can make all the difference But strengthening the stability performance requirements and the relevant safety standards would be the most effective solution This may require a mandatory standard from the cpsc to ensure that all manufacturers comply And that all consumers have the opportunity to keep their children safe from this hazard Thank you very much for your time and the opportunity to provide comments and I look forward to any questions that you will have Thank you very much. Dr. Hoffman. And now we will begin with a round of question Questions by the commissioners and I will begin myself with questions. So my first question Um, I'll address it to miss coals and mr. Wallace and dr. Hoffman because he has to do a safe sleep And supplemental mattresses. I mean you all raised that issue So as you mentioned, we have been grappling with that issue here at the agency and my colleague Chairman or commissioner k has advanced the idea to a 104 So I want to just kind of clarify on that issue because you've all expressed a desire to ban a supplemental mattress Now our data shows that it's only when the mattress doesn't fit properly That there can be a risk of suffocation. So I want to make sure I understand Is that what you do you agree with that or just in general you're asking for a ban on the on mattresses? I can start There's two issues with it one Certainly an ill-fitting mattress in any type of sleep product is going to be a hazard and we would strongly You know recommend standards to avoid that However, in a mesh sided product you have a different hazard and that's that even if the mattress fits correctly when the mesh Sides are in place A baby who rolls up against the mesh and their head can fit between there because the mesh gives just enough That you know, we do have a one inch allowance on crib mattresses for Just deviations in manufacturing can create a gap that the baby can get entrapped in So there's the safety issue that's clear why they're not used and because of that issue That's why all mesh playards say never use a mattress other than the one that comes with here So with this so what we're saying is that we're allowing companies to make a product That in a federal standard says never use it just seems counterintuitive to me to parents You're asking them to ignore a warning We all know how hard it is to get parents to pay attention to warnings And if you're selling a product that goes against a warning, you're basically telling them Well, you don't need to pay attention to this warning So I think that there's those two issues both with the mesh side Even a mattress that appears to fit when the mesh is not pushed against Can cause an entrapment hazard And you're Again, you have this warning against the very product that people are selling Thank you. Mr. Wallace Thank you for the question. We we agree with what miss cows has said We also would point out as I as we did in our comments that This the current situation with these products available for sale is misleading to consumers and Could very could all too easily lead to um Leads of situations with unsafe sleep and that's why we support the cpsc Banning or addressing the risk of injury associated with these mattresses. Thank you. Dr. Hoffman Thank you chairman burkle. I would echo what my colleagues have said I think The more we learn about parents behaviors and expectations around safe sleep for their infants the more we learn that We understand what the best possible recommendations are But from a practical realistic standpoint, we know that those can be hard to follow And anything we do that dilutes the message Or offers options That make it unsafe Is going to be paid that's going to hurt babies And so simply put by selling them. I think there's this implicit Acknowled that there's this implicit statement that they might be okay And if we can't tell parents that they're okay Then they shouldn't be on the market and I agree with what my colleagues have said Thank you Dr. Hoffman, you mentioned a couple of issues with Ikea and the recall and That was the first issue the second issue has to do with unsafe products I would like to follow up on that Any of these new unsafe products you're seeing around in the marketplace that Should be addressed by us. I would like to have that follow-up conversation with you And I'm sure my colleagues would be interested as well And then with regards to customer dissatisfaction with the recall if you could Let us know specifics if you know when that occurs That would be helpful as well. Thank you commissioner adler Thank you very much madam chairman and just because i'm the first commissioner to speak I will take the opportunity to congratulate you on being nominated to be the permanent chair of the consumer product safety commission And I did want to report that your four colleagues unanimously joined in a statement congratulating you on your nomination So we need to put that on the record And I just wanted to add personal note that it is a joy to work with you because you always promote an air of civility And because I consider you to be an honest broker and we'll work on your political policy views over time So miss coles first of all, thank you so much for your testimony And I just was sitting here reflecting on the fact that For those who think you can't have an impact on public policy unless you're a big organization I think you put the lie to that I cannot think of a group that has had more bang for the buck than kids Over the years and I just look at the track record of achievement at the agency that has been triggered by what kid does So please keep up your great work So one of the things you mentioned is pacifiers and I have to admit that it's always one of the golden oldies Because we've had a pacifier regulation since the memory of men and women to the contrary run if not as they say The problem is they're cheap and they're easily made and so I guess my question is can you Help us figure out a way to make enforcement, which is clear More effective I remember we used to have these weekly compliance briefings in which staff constantly would bring in these crappy pacifiers That had been brought in from overseas and we try to catch them as quickly as we can But do you have any brilliant new innovative creative dynamic and exciting ideas for us? Uh, well, I'll try and think of them. Thank you. But um, you know our concern is simply as you mentioned It's a very old standard the the materials they're made out of now have completely changed from when the standard was adopted And we do see a lot as you mentioned a very cheaply quickly produced pacifiers that I Can not believe have been tested by a third party which is now required by the cpsia because it's a mandatory standard But we also see recalls and problems with very name brand products that most parents would trust the brand of so and again because of Section 6b. I don't know if it's a problem with the standard itself or a standard of enforcement Um of the standard when you do find a defect or get a report There's plenty of reports and safer products.gov that could you know start An action or start looking at a particular product But because that's behind the veil so to speak I I don't know but what i'm calling for is let's take a Another look at that and I will do the same And talk to people about is it adequate as a standard? Do we need to update it in some way or is it simply that it needs to be enforced? Thank you. That's a very effective feedback. Mr. Samuels You touched on one of my favorite safety standards of all time, which is the refrigerator safety act Which is one of those acts that actually improved safety cut costs and was easy to implement Um and uh I I was wondering if you could just give a little additional specificity about your Suggestion and I by the way, I completely agree with you This is just a function of what the consumer products safety improvement act required Of the gcc's, but if you have any notion That you can be more specific about I'd appreciate it if you'd elaborate Well, we'd like to work with you legal and technical staff to see if for example You could uh Repeal or minimize the certification requirement or even put in effect an enforcement stay Or something like that. I mean the testing is not an issue because obviously we have to test anyways But the paperwork is an issue Uh and as models constantly change it means paperwork needs to change there's occasionally issues and at customs So this is a continuing regulatory burden for no benefit. So if we could look at some of the other Things you've done in the past such as the wearing apparel Stave enforcement, maybe that could help us rationalize doing the same thing here And then ultimately maybe we have to get the the the law repealed Thank you. That's certainly food for thought. I'm about to run out of time. So doctors I can benefit Just ask one quick question. I didn't hear you mention anything with respect to the petition On organo halogens and I'm wondering if you're involved in that and if you have any interest in attending to Testify at a hearing we're going to have on organo halogens I'd be very glad to do that. We have not been that involved in it But it is definitely an issue of concern. Thank you very much Thank you commissioner Robinson. Thank you. And let me also pass on my congratulations to you. We're delighted to have you in this spot Um, I look at this these group these five people sitting in front of me And I just want to tell you over the five the four years that I've been here Every one of your groups has been has made a significant contribution to helping us do our jobs And I thank you individually and I and I thank your organizations Um, let me start by just making a couple quick comments on miss coals and mr. Wallace Your comments about the 104 is being moved to d atr. I very very much share your concern and alarm with that Unfortunately when I made a motion to keep it as an fr I was only able to get the support of commissioner k So we were not able to keep those on track. Um, so maybe you want to work on some of the other commissioners Um, and with respect to 6b, I think we uh, there are certainly a number of us up here who Agree about this being a gag order. I don't think anyone's optimistic. We're going to get rid of it We could have gotten rid of the regulations, however That are additional hurdles that the commission passed and again, I was unable to get other commissioners support Over the four years that I've been pushing for that. So, um, you know where your efforts need to be spent Um, the with respect to tip overs, um, this coals mr. Wallace, dr. Hoffman You all commented on this and this is an issue in which I have been very intimately involved and strongly involved over Over my years here. I totally agree with you that we do not see the urgency with respect to the voluntary standard changing But I think there's more that we should be doing with respect to even making sure that's enforced um, I just recently learned of some uh, uh tricks if you will that industries come up with to even To even bypass that safety standard Which we do not think is adequate in terms of the stops of the drawers and what where people don't Actually use the drawers. They're actually stopping the doors before They're fully Extended in order to be able to pass this test So, um, I'm I am not allowed to ask anybody to advocate to congress for anything So I shall not do that But I wanted to make sure that people were aware of the proposed sturdy act And if any of you would like to make comments on your view on that, I'd be very interested I can just say we are aware of it We support it for the same reason that the dany's law and the cpsia has made such a tremendous improvement in the safety of nursery products We think that uh, sometimes some federal, you know mandated laws is going to go further, um in that area You else want to comment? We to support the efforts in congress to, um, ensure that a um A new Updated standard for furniture stability gets done faster Um, and I was not a commissioner when uh, saferproducts.gov was um put on the books But when once I got here, I've made a huge effort my staff and I Have worked very hard in trying to get people to be aware of the website and to report to it Um, we were successful in getting some additional help from the national sun for child death review We've talked with various lawyer groups many medical groups the american hospital associate association urgent care facilities We have one group in particular We're trying to get to add a data field which it took this job to make me understand how what a huge effort that is But to try to get the urgent care facilities under their auspices to report to us We've worked with medical examiners and hospitals and not part of nice any ideas that you have with respect to helping us Make people aware of this website because we would be very very much appreciated I I mean, I think that's uh, maybe we can do another workshop on that because I think that as you say It's a tremendous resource not just for the people that file reports But for the people that use it to research and learn about problems One thing I would say I know early on I haven't seen the statistics recently We've been told that about half of the reports you get actually make it on to saferproducts.gov for various reasons Maybe the consumer said they didn't want it Maybe they didn't fill out one of the required fields So any efforts that could be done once someone's taken the trouble to make a report to be sure that you give Them the opportunity to correct what needs to be corrected to get it Filed there would greatly increase the number of people just you know We noted that too and we've been making tremendous efforts on on that front I'm dr. Hoffman. I'm about to run out of time, but if I could quickly ask you I'm also concerned about the metrics we're using for Measuring the standard on laundry packets and whether whether it's effective And could you explain to us where we would get the data for the denominator as you're suggesting? The the affected population Yeah, so I thank you very much for that question commissioner. Um the Denominator that we would look at is the population of children not the number of laundry packets sold From my perspective one child who suffers an injury as a result of a laundry packet ingestion is one child too many It's a hundred percent preventable By using the denominator of the number of packets sold as the as the market saturation increases The um the number of ingestions may not keep pace with that There may be many more packets sold than there are ingestions But if we look at the number of ingestions over time if there are more packets out There are more children are going to be exposed The denominator should be the number of children in or the not sorry the number of children in a given population Um and looking at the ingestion risks for those kids not the number of packets sold Thank you. Thank you commissioner revampson commissioner k Thank you, madam chair. Uh congratulations on your nomination Any day spent in that position Trying to do good on behalf of consumers is a wonderful day But some are more wonderful than others and the early honeymoon period is certainly certainly qualifies for that I hope your honeymoon period is long and fruitful Uh Dr. Hoffman, I would like to start with you. Oh, and by the way, I do want to thank also the those who submitted written submissions But did not testify here today. Those are also very helpful. Uh, dr. Hoffman. Thank you for coming Uh, I'm extremely impatient when it comes to safety So I'm not going to wait to have a follow-up conversation on the dangerous products Can you just tell us now what you're thinking about? You don't have to mention manufacturers If you're not comfortable, but what are the products out there that you think need more attention? Um, I think my priority personally and I think the priority of the american academy pediatrics would be around safe sleep products first and foremost Specifically the baby boxes And supplemental play yard mattresses. I think you know as I stated earlier during my testimony having those things available I think the public Assumes that they're safe. I think they assume that The system is looking out for them and for their children And the fact of the matter is in many cases Sadly, it's not I think window coverings are also and that that's a simple problem That refuses to go away And I think that that's something it could be easily addressed and as I mentioned, I think the issue of Furniture and television tipovers. I think that that would be the that would be our priority Um, I could go on and on but I'll stop there unless you have other specific and are there specific Products on the market that are not covered by standards that be on the baby boxes that you're concerned about Yeah, and there are a tremendous number. Um, I hadn't it's uh experience earlier this year We're one of the non one of the the um non-regulated products that I won't specifically mention it But it's a it's a supplemental sleep space for an infant designed to either fit in a bassinet or in bed with the parents Stated that it was endorsed by pediatricians Um, and when we looked through the website We found somebody said it stated that it was endorsed by a member of the american catabit pediatrics And when we looked on the website that person was a pediatrician, but was not a member of the academy um, and again, there's I think that those manufacturers and marketers are taking advantage of the innocence of the public Who assume that these things are tested and safe and as I stated earlier sleep is such an issue for parents It's so hard to get through a day And it's really hard to do the safest possible thing and anything that exists that makes that more complex Makes it more dangerous for babies and that's just not okay Yeah, uh, we're on year 12 of still looking forward to getting a good night's sleep Um I'm on year 21 if it helps you feel any if it doesn't make me feel better at all. Uh, dr. Zuckerman Recently there was a voluntary standard that was created on artificial turf and that i'm guessing you're aware of Often my experience and I feel like I've been yelling in the wind for the last number of years about chemical exposure to children and products Uh It seems often that steps like a stoutman standard development is a positive But what I find is how it's interpreted is really the biggest issue and whether it's misleading And I'm curious to know what you're feeling is about that standard development Whether you feel like that is a positive and what you feel like the takeaway for parents should be from that Well, the testing just hasn't been very good and the testing that's been done Independently shows, you know, these very dangerous chemicals So, uh, one of the concerns that we have is that because of trade secrets a lot of the um Information about what's in these products is not public. It's not publicly available anywhere And so only through testing done by independent people who are usually not paid by anybody Can we find out what the risks are and even then we don't know exactly what the implications are But I can say that I know just locally There's a lot of misinformation about the products that are being marketed in a way that says well, this is virgin rubber So it doesn't have the same problem as crumb rubber, which is recycled tires Well, it does. I mean recycled tires might be worse But uh, even if a tire has never been used it still has all of these chemicals in them So I'm not sure if this is answering your question, but the the voluntary standards aren't working and wouldn't work because The companies are selling a product and it's selling like gangbusters I was just shocked to find out that dc is now Using um, some of this poured in place for sidewalks sidewalks.  Thank you. I appreciate it. Unfortunately my time expired But I do plan to submit follow-up questions and writing to all of you. Thank you Thank you very much commissioner mohorovic. Thank you and congratulations madam chairman Thank you to all of our panelists and those who have submitted written Submissions for the commission. They were very thoughtful and I appreciated Going through them listening today's testimony in a moment or two I'd like to ask miss coals and dr. Hoffman for their opinion on baby boxes Mr. Wallace, I note that you very clearly put a recommendation to the commission to with regards to baby boxes to participate in Voluntary standards activity in that area. So I think your position has been well stated But before baby boxes, I wanted to jump in on this On on the point of pacifiers miss coals that you brought up And I wonder openly with as is the case with many of the children's product regulations Whether or not the standard does adequately provide a sufficient level of safety for the product Or whether it's the fact that the agency and I'm going to get on my soap box refuses to enforce the 1107 rule That is consider this with regards to the submissions on safer product gov I wonder whether or not it's really product that fails to meet that would meet the standard and then still failed Or whether or not it's a situation which is common in terms of of testing and overseas procurement where Type testing is done to meet a standard If you like I have the pacifier standard in front of me with the torque and tension test It requires one performance test on that product and a test lab can perform that one time And then provide a test report that shows that That particular product example passed and then somebody could bring in a hundred thousand units now This commission very smartly wrote the 1107 rule to address that which means that when somebody imports or domestically Manufactures that they have to certify that all product is compliant Not just that one example and it puts the pressure on that Importer a domestic manufacturer for reasons. I can't understand We refuse to hold importers accountable to the full compliance of all the product They can deliver us a test report for bringing in Hundred thousand units or something without any explanation in terms of how much testing they did And there are people here in the audience who I know spend a lot of time Thinking about how they would adequately answer a very direct question of a high degree of assurance To the commission, but we refuse to do it. I don't know why we do so if there's a time you want to talk more about the 1107 rule And its potential application here in other areas I think it would make a tremendous impact on safety and get around the one product one test dynamic That seems to continue to confront us So sorry for using up a lot of time on my soapbox with the 1107 rule Mr. Samuels, I'm reminded by a conversation. I had three years ago with a former fcc chairman not chairman FCC commissioner in the late 90s who found Telegraph standards still on the books at the FCC and was astonished by how difficult it was it is laughable Dr. Zuckerman how difficulty found it was to remove from the books telegraph standards, which were completely outdated and redundant but having been part of the commission solicitation of enforcement guidance on a nuanced area of certification obligation I don't think I can be your champion with that, but perhaps the rest of the commission might see to it I also openly opine whether or not there's really a desire for certification for general use products That is the non children's products. I can certainly see a strong reason I share that reason for a need for certification for the children's products But I openly wonder how much value it gives to ask for paperwork requirements for certification to a carpet standard and to a garbage can standard which are standards that are on the books And with that I've left you less than a minute. Ms. Coles, I apologize on baby boxes and Dr. Hoffman Yes, so I'll Just talk briefly. All of us are involved in this product. This was a product that has really gained popularity because of a huge marketing Push by the companies that make them. So this isn't a grassroots people saw the cardboard box and said, oh gosh That's what I want my baby to sleep in It is modeled after Finland as we all know and it's the finish Doctors say really out of our whole system you picked the cardboard box to be your example of what was good, but We have a lot of concerns I recommend that you look at a new review that just came out from the editor the authors of baby bargains Which is was actually originally brought to me by Linda genzel almost 20 years ago because it is the one Baby book that talks a lot about safety and they found a lot of flaws with the product At least as they could get it the biggest concern with it is is it outlives its usefulness Somewhere between three and six months the very point at which the child is at the highest risk of Suit and sids and so at that point they're going to be moved to an unsafe environment Dr. Hoffman my apologies, but I'm out of time. Forgive me Thank you. We're going to have a second round of questions all of the commissioners have Said they have other questions as do I so I'm just going to make it quick Dr. Zuckerman you Referred to a number of studies in your testimony With regards to maybe there was one author that was had conflicts And and then you talked about a sperm study. Could you Present us with those studies for the record and so that we can have the opportunity to look at those Sure, I'd be happy to and my Written statement that I did ahead of time is very heavily footnoted I have a revised written version that is a little bit different But the sperm study just came out, but it's a it's a meta analysis of something like 160 Studies that had already been done in the united states and other countries. It's very consistent That sperm counts and quality Is less than half of what it was. Thank you. I would appreciate that. Thank you very much I do want to address one issue that's come up a little bit this morning and that is the 104s and when we were Discussing in our mid-year The there is and I just want to assure all of you and the public in general that there's been no Diminishing desire to handle 104s. We just respected what staff was interested in doing and that is Making some sense out of the order of things that we have complied with our requirement by congress to do our Two 104s every month But there is and we've satisfied that requirement But it was more out of respect for staff and their workload that we took that opportunity But I just want to assure everyone that there is no desire to push back or to not follow up with our 104 requirements So I just wanted to add that And I wanted to also just talk briefly about our safe sleep campaign and that is bear is best That addresses Anything in the crib, whether it's a bumper or a pillow or anything else And I want to just ask you and I say it's a yes or no answer But is that an adequate message bear is best It's a hard message when those products are still on store shelves Um, and so consumers don't really know CPSC policy They know that when they go into a store, whatever they can buy they're assuming is safe. Someone made sure it's safe We have bumpers in there. We have some of the other products that uh, the doctor was talking about and that we see every day Um, you know, I was just approached by my nephew at a wedding this weekend To the first thing he said to me totally impromptu was you know, it makes me mad Everyone tells me not to use bumpers and they're all over the stores when I said, oh, that's my issue. So But it your message is very good. Bear is best. That's what we say And that's why we oppose bumpers because they dilute that message. Thank you Dr. Hoffman, I would agree that it's a good message. It's not enough the the Simple fact is as miss cal stated that these products are available People will assume they're okay, and I see the I see the effects of that every day and talking with families As a pediatrician, I receive those questions constantly and I can talk about it I can convince parents sometimes not to use them once they've started But it's it would be much better to not have them begin and they wouldn't begin using them if they weren't available Thank you very much. Commissioner other Thank you very much, madam chair Ms. Coles, I wanted to look at page five of your testimony. Just ask for a clarification You said the current method for testing small parts Is not optimally designed to prevent dangerous toys from being sold to consumers and one of the points you talk about is the size of the container measuring The products that are going on to the market And I'm wondering is that the primary concern you were mentioned because there there's also the use and abuse test that Subjects products to use and abuse to see If they survive that and then they're tested But is is your is that part of your concern or is it just the size of the small parts container? We think both need to be looked at So we did a study that was peer reviewed and published that looked at both recalls and safer product reports Where we found that there were choking incidents of products that would fit or would not fit So it would pass the small parts test. So the question is whether Is our use and abuse testing enough that we're catching things that break into small parts And then with all the way that children's Anthropometric data has changed since we set that size. Is it the right size now for today's To almost three-year-old that we're trying to protect Thank you for that. I do know the staff is looking into that and I'm in a continuing dialogue with them So thank you again for raising that issue. Dr. Zuckerman Your your comments about crumb rubber really hit me very hard And I have to commend commissioner k at this point because he's the one who's been pushing the commission to work so diligently on crumb rubber And you're absolutely right about a multitude of industry sponsored standards I still remember meeting with industry representatives and they would come in with a packet of studies this thick literally And what their argument was is boy, those are terrible terrible toxic chemicals But thank god for the miracle of modern chemistry because they're all bound in so much. They're not released And that still is the big issue before the commission at this point So I guess my question to you is are you aware just as you were mentioning this other recent study Are you aware of studies that actually address the degree of off-gassing and the degree of actual hazard? Associated with crumb rubber because nobody argues about the toxicity of the chemicals, but they're big arguments about whether they ever get released I'm happy to provide that. I mean Yale and some other places have been doing studies Uh, if you've I mean the crumb rubber, which is usually black All you have to do is see children playing with it. They're covered with black stuff all over their hands and sometimes their faces Um, you know how anybody could say that's not going to Get chemicals in the side of their body either through their skin or their mouths. I don't know but um, but what concerns me also is that as Parents have become aware and some municipalities have become aware of those concerns Instead they're now being sold this new product the port in place Which as I said, it's beautiful. I mean you get these of surfaces that are bright colors. They're very pretty and They feel a little bouncy and yet they have more injuries apparently than things like Woodchips underneath monkey bars and slides and swings and things like that Um, and they also have more concussions. So Exactly the opposite of what you'd think, you know, I mean, I remember when crumb rubber came I thought wow, this is great. You recycle tires and it's safe. You know, it seemed like a really great idea, but There is a lack of research and we need more research. I'm sorry to take up so much time But who's going to pay for the research? That's a big issue Thank you for that and I get one last quick question. Dr. Hoffman I did note when you said rather than reduce regulations. We believe the cpsc has the capacity to do more Um, that seems to put you at odds with a recent executive order from the white house that says for every and by the way We're not bound by that but for every new regulation an agency should withdraw to Existing regulations. I'm curious if the american academy of pediatrics has taken a position one way the other on What has to be forgive me one of the stupidest executive orders ever issued I don't believe we've taken an official stance, but our emphasis is the well-being of kids and if you're talking about what's best for kids and We're dealing with issues of availability of product and safety of product I think the public has an implicit assumption that products that are on the shelves are safe And if it's a question of increasing regulation to increase that level of safety to protect children's lives Then I think that that's what's what that's what has to happen. Thank you very much. Thank you commissioner. I guess my honey moon's over commissioner ravinson Mr. Wallace, I'd like to talk about portable generators for a minute as you know We're after many many many years of trying to get industry to make these Generators safer in terms of carbon monoxide emissions. We're starting to make some progress finally. I think And I know you know about our npr I'm set next week to go to Wisconsin and visit some of the generator manufacturers and see what they they've come up with But I was very interested in the comment on the top of page six of your written submission that says that consumer reports Is exploring potential changes to the testing to account for portable generators carbon monoxide emissions and I wondered what you were doing Still under development, but we are interested in um in assessing these products for For the extent to which they they pose this hazard and comparing them against one another if these products if individual portable generator models might Provide a greater margin of safety for consumers or or a lower one So, um, I I'm I'm told at least that it's Technologically feasible now both to lower emissions significantly by over 90 percent And also that there is something that's looking pretty good in terms of a shutoff mechanism Have you gotten to the point in your process in terms of testing? To be able to tell us which which way you're going to go in your testing For for our testing we haven't it's still under development But but in terms of you know our position we stated it that A comprehensive standard would involve both the prevention and detection approach Okay, great. And miss calls. I wanted to ask you. Um, I wanted to follow up on this product registration card complaint It's obviously a very serious one since we're all inundated with ads constantly And that we we take that very seriously, but did you report this to the cpsc? I did it was actually I it came to my knowledge from an article That a reporter a reporter happened to be one of the people on the list and who reported this I did I reported to the cpc. I reported it to the company who assured me it was a one-time thing Although it's hard to believe the one time was when a reporter was on the list, but Yes, so I'm I believe they're taking it seriously and I again 6b. I have no idea what you're doing But I did report it. Okay, great. And please keep it surprised if there are any other problems Dr. Zuckerman, I wanted to follow up On your comments about phthalates and tell you that I very much share your concern about how incredibly long it has taken us But I I'm told that we should be getting a package shortly That we're going to be considering a final rule and I just wondered if you would submitted comments Commissioner adler asked you about the organo halogens, but with respect to phthalates Have you submitted comments to our staff to be considered? Yes, I I believe we I mean we've been talking about it for several years at our center and we've We've spoken before and submitted before so I'll check and make sure I I'm sorry. The one thing I forgot to say Is that the other thing about crumb rubber and these other materials is that they can that bacteria can grow there and so there's actually A young woman at american university who was playing ultimate frisbee. You would not think the most dangerous, you know Athletic issue and she almost died because in after getting an injury That did not get any better, you know, uh, basically a burn type injury from You know from a turf burn The bacteria got in and nearly killed her so mercer and other very dangerous bacteria can live in these materials And so if a person gets a an injury that opens up a wound It can be deadly Mr. Samuels, I just wanted to follow up with respect to water filters and first of all Thank you for your efforts and thank you for coming and and sharing what you had found What else could we do here at the cpsc to work with cbp to keep out the counterfeit water filters Obviously counterfeit products generally is a huge problem for us As it is for other agencies Particularly fda, but I don't know what we could do with respect to water filters to help out. Well, one thing is if you could Communicate to customs that you consider this to be a significant issue because of the safety aspects They are overwhelmed with the counterfeit problem I mean they're organized to deal with it, but there are lots and lots of counterfeit products in the united states We would argue that this would have a higher priority than some Because of the safety issues and if you could communicate that would be very helpful We also want to work with you on joint education campaigns Maybe you can help us Engage in terms of detecting the counterfeit water filters. Yes, and Engage with with retailers. I mean, I think there's various things that we can do together That would be that would be very helpful We're not going to get rid of this problem entirely But we can try and limit it Well being from michigan Obviously the the idea that the flint residents would get counterfeit water filters was pretty gut wrenching when you came in I'm out of town in time, but thank you and we look forward to working with you Thank you commissioner. Okay Thank you, madam chair mr. Samuels. Obviously as you mentioned we cannot engage legally unless there is a safety issue that's demonstrable so I would just request please that you provide us with whatever data Testing in particular that you've done and plan to do that demonstrates the safety concerns that we would have something to look at and then As appropriate engage cbp or the chairman could engage cbp Dr. Zuckerman just as follow up to what you're saying about the artificial turf It's the exact conversation I had with my 12 year old my older son in the car on the way home from picking him up from camp yesterday because he slid Annoyingly on an artificial turf surface during camp and did open up a wound and I had that exact conversation because he said well He tried to pull the fibers apart and nothing came apart So he didn't understand how that could get in the skin and I was explaining to him about the bacteria We were very exciting car rides home after I get them from camp Um, so I appreciate that you raising that concern Uh, miss coles you've and actually dr. Hoffman touched on something that has been a theme For many years of the agency and a frustration Which is that parents have an expectation that Products that they use especially for the young children have to have been tested just have to be safe It just cannot be that those things can be sold Unless somebody has tested them and made sure they're safe You filled the gap significantly with the work that you did on dany's law and thank you for that I am concerned though as the commission Continues to move through its implementation What the future will mean for that law and there have been different theories Put forward about how to interpret it and since you are the drafter along with jan schikowsky of that provision back in 2001 And then forward up through 2008 How should the commission interpret Section 104 dany's law as we go forward Is it a static Law in your mind that the list that was developed in 08 and has been supplemented First I guess in no 09 and then a little bit since then Is that it or is it a dynamic statute was the intention on your part in the drafters To have it be dynamic and to continue to address Products that might not be on the list represent hazards for young children Um, obviously it was the second I mean our goal at the first and the very beginning when we looked at it as you said it was simply that Durable infant and toddler products products that used to care for the most vulnerable consumers Should be tested by an independent laboratory to a third to a strong standard Um, and so the list we came up with in 2001 was the list of current astm standards because that was the universe of those Kind of products we've added to it But we certainly see this as a rule making Provision that will go forward as long as there's a cpsc to be used whenever new products either a new product presents itself And needs a standard because it's completely new. I mean we can't Imagine that the development of products is going to be stagnate given how many new ones we're seeing um Or that a product that has been there, but didn't rise to the level either as durable or Um, presenting enough hazards to rise to someone's attention Now has presented a hazard now is made in such a way that it is a durable product and needs to be added to that So we certainly see this as an ongoing rule making mechanism for cpsc for any durable infant and toddler products Great, I hope you'll continue to be a vocal proponent of that view I share your view and I am concerned in the next number of years that that might not be a universally Accepted viewpoint and I think it's important that you continue to stay engaged so that view Has a voice on the outside and certainly will continue to have a voice on the inside Dr. Hoffman one of the aspects that comes up often with pediatricians is this idea that They should be our mouthpiece at that moment of engagement when Families come in to visit with pediatricians I've been skeptical for a long time of that viewpoint from my own experiences when I talk to our pediatrician and She even knows what I do for a living And so she has added an incentive to try to get as much into that conversation as she can but I wonder how realistic it is really to um Give you and give pediatricians the responsibility to try to fit into that 10 to 20 minute period if it's even that When you see parents and especially parents of young children infants knowing what is going on in their head And how exhausted they are and how distracted they are and how Difficult it is. What's your level of expectation or what should our level of expectation to be as to how much can be communicated during that visit Thank you very much for that question commissioner. I think it absolutely is our responsibility But as you suggested, I think the system often makes that difficult What's prioritized for us from a fiscal standpoint or for physicians in general is Quick visits in and out and that does make it more difficult, especially with with Exhausted new parents who may need more information injury prevention Recommendations and and anticipatory guidance are one of the few things that should span ever that that our guidelines and the Bright Futures Guidelines state should span every single visit I assure you that as a pediatrician I talk more about safety than almost anybody And even then I know that a lot of families don't always hear what I'm saying and so there is a big challenge So while I while I do feel strongly it is our responsibility It's not going to be enough We'll continue to do better. We'll continue to produce policy that is practical and evidence based And we will do our best to disseminate that but we need to work as partners with government and non-governmental organizations to help spread the message And to make it as simple as possible for parents to do the right thing Great. Thank you for that. And even though I didn't consult you as a pediatrician on my son's injury from yesterday I did end up treating it multiple times with neosporin just so you know Excellent. Thank you Thank you commissioner k commissioner horovic. Thank you madam chairman and thanks for the second round And if you're not too exhausted dr. Hoffman Thanks for being patient if you could provide any of your thoughts in terms of recommendations for the cpsc With baby boxes. Yeah, I think my experience with baby boxes is that A lot of parents are really excited by the possibility because I think it's a disruptive idea And I think disruptive ideas, especially in the blogosphere Tend to get a lot of traction. They've become cool and sexy for lack of a better word. It's hard to imagine a box being sexy I loved what miss cowell said about if we chose to import one thing from scandinavian health care systems that it would be a box to Put babies in I think that the issues that the the biggest issues that I see number one is that there is no evidence that they are safe And this is a place when we're talking about newborns And the leading cause of death That's preventable for babies. Now. I want to be very clear There are more babies every year who die from suede than all children die from cancer This is a huge issue Anything we do that makes it harder for parents to do the safest possible thing to allow their babies to thrive Is going to put babies in danger We don't know that the boxes are safe. We know they have a limited lifespan We we don't know where parents are supposed to put them. Are they supposed to be in bed? Are they supposed to be on the floor? We don't know what the sleep surface should be or it doesn't have you know, there are no standards to address that All of the studies that i'm aware of that either have been done or are being done are sponsored by industry Which I find concerning The other issue and I deal with this on a regular basis in a very practical way with our safety center The price point for boxes is not that much less than for Play yards which meet standards and have been tested and been demonstrated to be safe and the biggest argument that I heard initially from advocates of Baby boxes was was the price issue and the ability to get them out to families so that every family would potentially have a safe Sleep space We know that many families who have a safe sleep space will not utilize it in the safe as possible way But I but we know 100 of families who do not have a sleep sleep space will not be utilizing one As I look at baby boxes, we have a reasonable alternative The price point is not that different the alternative meets standards until we know better until we can guarantee the public That baby boxes are safe They scare me to death Yeah, thank you and thank you for providing that it's it's been an issue a product that has been been on my mind for Several years now too. So thanks, miss coals and also, uh, dr Hoffman the only point that I would take issue with from your response would be that I would think justin timberlake and andy sandberg would disagree and say that boxes can be quite sexy Especially around the valentines period. So I'll just like make sure that that's on the record. Dr. Zuckerman, um, you provided some testimony with regards to artificial turf and chrome rubber and there's been questions today I appreciate that you asked that the cpsc provide a warning While the while the study is still underway. What would be Your recommendation of what a responsible warning the cpsc could provide? Generally at this time I think a warning could say we're studying it and we're studying it because there are known carcinogens in the product And we're trying to figure out, you know How safe it is. I don't think you have to say it's unsafe. I think you have to say we're studying it because we have these concerns and Because there are toxic chemicals in these products That that are then in the become come into the air Um, I think that helps people understand that it's not just while i'm wearing shoes when i'm on this, uh Uh surface of what difference does it make but to understand that it's you're breathing it in and it's It's getting in your body too. Well. Thank you, dr. Zuckerman. I promise you I'll I'll review what we what our messaging has been on this in the past To see whether or not it satisfies Um, dr. Hoffman not to pick on you again, but coming all the way from morrigan one thing I'll just leave you with um in the In the workshop yesterday on recall effectiveness one of the points that was brought up in terms of a fantastic time to be able to message To consumers about recalls and raise awareness does occur in the pediatrics Waiting room or in the visiting room And I bet this commission would be very receptive to any ideas in terms of partnership for communication that AAP would like to put together with the with the commission. So I'll just leave you with that as a thought I'm sure we'd be delighted to help. Thank you. Thank you, madam chairman Thank you all very much hearing no further questions. I want to thank all of our panelists this morning miss coals Mr. Samuels dr. Zuckerman mr. Wallace and dr. Hoffman Thank you all very much for taking the time to be here to provide your testimony and to be so gracious in answering our questions With that I will now Adjourn this hearing for five minutes. We'll take a break. We'll reset the table for our second panel and again our sincere Thanks to all of you There we go Welcome back We will now begin and resume our hearing this morning with our second panel Which includes miss Kathleen McGuigan from the retail industry's Association leaders association miss rachel weintraub from the consumer federation of america Mr. Remington greg from public citizen Miss christin kerne from the american apparel and footwear association And miss otter moore from the toy association. Good morning to all of you and welcome again Thank you for taking the time and the resources to be here this morning to provide this agency with your valuable input With that we will begin with miss big wigan Thank you Good morning acting chairman commissioners and staff i'm Kathleen McGuigan senior vice president and deputy general counsel for the leader retail leaders association By way of background rila members include some of the largest and most innovative retailers the retailer Retail industry employs 42 million americans and accounts for 1.5 trillion dollars in annual sales I want to thank you for the opportunity To testify before you today regarding the commission's fiscal year 2018 and 2019 agenda and budget priorities Rila has previously submitted detailed written comments On the level of resources It believes the commission should allocate for various agency activities in 2018 2019 It is not my intention to repeat that Testimony what i really want to do today is highlight four areas and expand upon four areas that were in my written testimony First i want to express my gratitude Of our membership for the opportunity to participate in yesterday's recall effectiveness workshop To bring about significant improvement in the effective communication Of product hazards to consumers to quickly remove Defective and non-compliant products from the marketplace will take real partnership among all stakeholders Yesterday's event demonstrated stakeholders Genuine desire to have a positive impact We hope that yesterday's workshop will not be a check the box or a one-time event For progress to be made on recall effectiveness and other critical product safety related issues That will need to be ongoing and continuing engagement Over the past several years rila has advocated for the cpsc to establish a formal advisory committee under the federal advisory committee act Such a committee has several advantages The format of faca provides a structure and format forum for ongoing discussions On topics between the agency And stakeholders also the faca is a permanent structure And this ensures that agency engagement with stakeholders is on an ongoing basis Without being subject to changing agency leadership And preferences or personal philosophy on stakeholder engagement We continue to urge the cpsc to explore the possibility of establishing a formal advisory committee under faca To enable it to continue the type of engagement necessary to bring about transformational change Let me turn now to my second topic and the next couple will Talk about areas where we think that the agency should dedicate some of its resources The cpsc As the primary federal agency with authority over the safety of consumer products has Has a long held position that it is a data driven agency In that its decisions and rule makings are based upon sound data and science In today's rapidly changing marketplace the volume of data that is relevant to important Product safety issues is increasing at an exponential rate The collection and analysis analysis of data Are now an important part of government and industry strategic planning and daily operations For the cpsc to meet its core mission. It is critical that the cpsc invest in Internal or external staff It systems and software resources to enhance the agency's data collection And predictive data analytics capabilities Without such resources the agency will fall woefully behind and will not be able to protect us consumers One area that the commission should consider Dedicating increased resources Is the expansion and formalization Of the so-called retail reporting program When the rrp was created it was intended to capitalize upon the wealth of information That retailers and manufacturers gather about customers interaction with products The original concept was that the cpsc would analyze this information from disparate sources To identify emerging product safety risks and defect trends In doing so the cpsc could work with manufacturers and retailers To recall defective products much earlier than the current timeline thereby preventing untold injuries and property damage This idea at the time was truly unique and really ahead of its time The challenge for the cpsc in achieving the full benefits of the rrp Is that until recently it and data analytics tools had not yet been developed that could handle Multiple reporting companies and the volume and complexity of the information provided As a result the rrp has stagnated participation has closed And the cpsc has never fully utilized the data Provided for the purposes of predictive analytics What was impossible at the time of the creation of the rrp is commonplace in 2017 Today there are it resources and data analytics solutions That can handle millions of data points and predictive analytic tools that enable government and business to identify patterns and trends And even predict consumer behavior We urge the cpsc to invest in staff and resources to expand its data collection And predictive analytic capabilities We further urge the cpsc to expand the rrp pilot and to use technology to create a tool That allows any reporting entity to file an electronic section 15b report Of course for any electronic tool to be That is developed by the cpsc to be embraced by industry needs to be what we heard from yesterday about Recall solutions it needs to be easy to use and cost effective If the cpsc moves forward in this direction It's critical that it engage with and get input from stakeholders during the development process To test the usefulness and ease of use of any electronic reporting tool The cpsc should conduct a pilot program with interested partners to provide feedback In addition a pilot would allow the cpsc to gain experience and expertise using new data analytics software My third topic continues the technology theme and in this instance It specifically relates to the emerging technologies like iot that are being incorporated into consumer products It truly is amazing to think that the iphone was only introduced 10 years ago in 2007 Today smart phones are viewed by many consumers to be a necessary part of their daily life I can tell you that my three college age daughters absolutely believe this to be true iot technology is being incorporated into a wide array of consumer and industrial products From smart door locks Security cameras in-home appliances electronics smart cars personal care personal care products and wearables The potential list of iot products is endless While these iot products are meeting consumers demand for increased convenience They also create cyber security privacy and safety challenges Currently there are multiple federal agencies including the ftc nitsa commerce dhs That are grappling with iot issues Industry trade consumer advocates and ngo's are also looking at these issues To make sure that the cpsc is prepared to proactively tackle the complex iot related issues It is critically important that the cpsc dedicate resources and staffing to gain an understanding of these new innovative technologies And to engage with government agencies and partners The goal of these efforts should be to develop a comprehensive risk-based approach To regulation of iot products to address privacy Cyber security and consumer safety concerns while promoting innovation and new product development As part of this approach, we urge the cpsc to adopt a risk-based reasonableness standard for product safety for iot products Similar to the ftc's reasonable standard for data privacy The ftc understands that creating an impenetrable barrier for Against cyber hacking is impossible So instead it requires companies to have a reasonable data security program That takes into consideration the sensitivity of the data collected The scale and scope of operations and the risk Level of risk if a breach occurs The development of new technologies and product is moving at lightning speed And it is moving forward with or without the cpsc In order for the cpsc to continue to be relevant and to protect consumers The cpsc must invest in internal staff Or external staff and resources to proactively address this issue now Failure to do so will undermine the agency's core safety mission The last topic that I wanted to discuss is an area where I think the the agency can save some money and reallocate resources And this this and at the same time enhance is import surveillance program The cpsc is a small agency with limited resources And then has limited even more limited amount to conduct. I'm so sorry. I apologize. Your 10 minutes has expired. I'm sorry. Hopefully we can We'll get to questions. Thank you very much. Sure. There's wine trap Thank you very much. Um acting chairman berkel. Congratulations on your nomination and To all the commissioners. Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on the cpsc's f y 2018 and 2019 Priorities. I am rachel wine trap legislative director and general counsel at consumer federation of america a non-profit association Of approximately 280 pro consumer groups founded in 1968 to advance the consumer interest through advocacy and education Continuing to effectively implement the consumer product safety improvement act should remain a high priority Because of the rules promulgated promulgated under the cpsia Infant durable products must now meet robust mandatory standards The 2011 crib standard with third party testing and certification requirements is of particular significance As it is the strongest crib standard in the world and offers our nation's infants a slate a safe sleep environment Which their parents have a right to expect We urge the cpsc to continue to commit the staff time and resources necessary To prioritize the promulgation of these rules under section 104 And we are very concerned about cpsc's recent delay of the standards for high chairs and stationary activities centers But appreciate the comments this morning Another high priority for the cpsc should continue to be safer products dot gov 33,595 reports have been posted to saferproducts.gov as of earlier this month And it continues to be an important tool for consumers researchers doctors coroners and the cpsc Based on our analysis in a report from last november We recommend that the cpsc continue to explore how to make saferproducts.gov even more useful and inaccessible to consumers Including increasing promotion of the site expanding the data sources included in saferproducts dot gov Releasing overall reports on data trends and improving data categories and searchability There are a number of product safety hazards that the cpsc should prioritize or further prioritize on emerging hazards We applaud the cpsc's work on hoverboards, but hazards remain incidents Continue and recalls continue even to this week If we applaud this work, but we also urge the cpsc to make sure that the recalls are working and are effective And are useful for consumers on crumb rubber We urge the cpsc to quickly provide concrete information for consumers about the safety of this material On laundry packets, we urge the cpsc to remain engaged in the voluntary standards process and to carefully monitor incidents to determine Whether more actions are necessary On window coverings due to the persistent hazard that cords on window coverings Poster children cfa kid parents for window blind safety and others filed a petition with the cpsc in 2013 requesting a prohibition of accessible window covering cords Despite six industry attempts to develop adequate voluntary standards There were at least 184 deaths due to strangulation and 101 severe injuries caused by cords on window coverings From 1996 through 2012 and at least 11 Children die each year as a result of cords on window coverings Deaths and injuries can be eliminated by designs that are ready already available on the market Cordless technology and cord design cord cover designs while the comment period just ended for the voluntary standard We urge the commission to promulgate a strong mandatory safety standard that will reduce confusion in the marketplace Lead to more homes with safe products and eliminate the strangulation risk for consumers and children in particular On all-terrain vehicle safety and off highway vehicle safety According to the most recent data released by the cpsc at least 97,200 people were injured while riding all-terrain vehicles seriously enough to require emergency room treatment in 2015 The estimated number of atv related vitalities was 674 In 2014 though the 2014 data is not considered complete and the number of fatalities will almost certainly grow as more data is received From our own data that cfa compiles with our With our on-road safety coalition We know that as of july 18th of 2017 we have documented 260 fatalities for two south than 17 alone And in july alone. We have documented 41 deaths We urge the cpsc to complete the atv rulemaking which should include a serious analysis of the safety hazards posted children by atvs The adequacy of existing atv safety training and training materials and efforts to ensure that children are not riding atvs That are too large and too powerful them for them in addition We urge the cpsc to prioritize the increasing epidemic of operating ohvs and atvs and roves on roads High-powered magnet sets We were alarmed by the united states court of appeals for the 10th circuit decision that struck down cpsc's high-powered magnet set rule That we supported strongly We are concerned by the consequences of that decision and already More rare earth magnets are entering the market creating hidden hazards that could severely injure Or even kill a child who swallows more than one of these We urge that the cpsc take strong action to ensure that doctors and consumers are educated about these hazards As well as work to reissue the rule on furniture tip overs according to cpsc's data Every two weeks a child dies and more than 38 000 children are injured annually annually as a result of a piece of Furniture appliance or television tipping over between 2000 and 2011 there were 349 tip over related deaths Two-thirds of those deaths involved toddlers The astm standard for furniture must be improved to more effectively protect the public and Hazardous products must be removed effectively from the marketplace We urge the cpsc to prioritize this and continue their work on flame retardants and consumer products Flame retardant chemicals are found in numerous types of consumer products And are associated with serious human health problems including cancer reduced sperm count learning deficits hyperactivity and hormone disruption These chemicals migrate from household products into air and dust as a result 97 percent of us residents have measurable quantities of toxic flame retardants in their blood Children are especially at risk because they come into greater contact with household dust that dust than adults Studies show that children who's developing brains and reproductive organs are most vulnerable Have three to five times higher levels of flame retardants than their parents We urge this cpsc to prioritize this issue Docket our petition and take effective steps to protect consumers from the health hazards posed by flame retardants while not diminishing fire safety protections On recall effectiveness. We appreciate the workshop yesterday. We think it was the beginning of an important dialogue and we Urge the continuation of the dialogue so that we can have Concrete conversations about the factors that are essential to the most well publicized most effective recalls So that this can be replicated with all recalls and we Recommend the need to consider more robust approaches to recall communication The use of incentives and how to use innovative technologies to improve recall effectiveness in the future And we look forward to those ongoing conversations on civil penalties Civil and penal and criminal penalties serve an important to turn to effect to non compliance with the laws enforced by the cpsc And we urge the cpsc to prioritize this important element of its enforcement We urge the agency to continue to collect penalties when the violations represent problematic disregard for the cpsc's laws In conclusion We urge the cpsc to continue to strengthen its efforts to fulfill its mission to protect consumers from hazards posed by consumer products We urge the cpsc to consider including the additional priority issues that we outlined in our statement today And our written testimony that we submitted earlier and we note the urgency of these issues We look forward to continuing to work with the commission. Thank you Thank you very much. Ms. Weintraub. Mr. Gregg Thank you acting chairman burkle members of the commission. Good afternoon. I'm remington a greg council for civil justice and consumer rights at public citizen Public citizen represents the public interest through lobbying litigation and minister of advocacy research and public education On a broad range of issues that include product safety and consumer rights in the marketplace On behalf of our 400 000 members and supporters Thank you for giving us an opportunity to provide recommendations to the commission as you determine the agency's priorities for fy 2018 and 2019 At the outset we express our support for the commission's strategic plan and look forward to working with the commission to ensure successful implementation Moreover, we are committed to working with the cpsc and our coalition partners on addressing a wide range of issues including Aggressively addressing well documented product hazards by adopting mandatory standards on table saws and window covering cords Hazard related to furniture and tv tipovers and closely monitoring The implementation of the voluntary standards to shield children from dangerous liquid laundry packets This comment however will focus on two issues that public citizen plans to work closely on with the cpsc During the next fiscal years Ensuring a more data driven agency and increased transparency to effectuate the agency's mission The cpsc strategic plan states that quote agency access to useful accurate and timely data is a cross-cutting priority focus and that the agency consistently looks for ways to improve the quality transparency Reliability and availability of data essential for achieving the agency's strategic objectives goals and mission and quote We strongly support the cpsc's goal for using data to become a more efficient and effective agency for consumers and urge the commission To continue collecting timely and comprehensive data that will help the agency more effectively advance its mission We also strongly support the consumer product safety database safer products.gov and encourage the commission to enhance its utility If administered correctly it can serve as a central national repository for critical product safety information Therefore serving as an impactful cpsc tool to avert injury or death to the public For example, we urge the commission to further strengthen safer products.gov by increasing its visibility and use by the public We recommend that the cpsc make the website's visibility a top priority And dedicate resources to advertising it on social media and in any media statements or responses issued by the commission As well as using other forms of social media to push out critical information Moreover cpsc should explore innovative and tech savvy ways to convey information on recalls For example, the commission could consider agency action that allows consumers to opt in to receiving text messages if a product is recalled This type of feedback loop would give the cpsc real-time metrics to understand the number of people who are receiving information on a recall Which in turn would help the commission better understand if it is effectively disseminating important information Second, the cpsc should do more to increase transparency in the decision-making process by improving information disclosure to the public We place particular significance on strengthening information disclosures Issued pursuant to section 6b of the consumer product safety act Since the commission issued the nprm in february 2014 to amend the 30-year rule Implementing section 6b the rulemaking has seen little traction We urge the commission to continue with the proposed rulemaking without further delay Unfortunately 6b has restrained the commission in its ability to proactively disclose safety hazards to the public 6b negatively affects consumers by unnecessarily shielding critical product safety information from public view Section 6b is outdated Anticonsumer and intended solely to protect the reputation of businesses that put harmful products on the market Landmark right-to-know laws like freedom of information act do not have a similar Overbroad restriction for information disclosures and instead have tightly focused exemptions focused on real business interests such as protecting trade secrets There is no legitimate justification for this law and congress should eliminate it We encourage the cpsc to make the case to congress We in turn will do the same Until congress eliminates section 6b the cpsc must prioritize the rulemaking process to increase proactive disclosures by the commission section 6b's equally outdated implementing regulations, which are overly Pro pro industry because they allow manufacturers to weigh in on or outright object to product safety information before the commission may disclose such information to the public Essentially 6b requires the commission to negotiate every communication that names a manufacturer or company Some provisions of the 30-year-old rule are emblematic of the avoidable obstacles that thwart the commission's ability to modernize and advance consumer safety Advances in technology and communication since the rule's adoption have gone unaddressed One obvious example is the commission's inability to publicly disseminate information that has already been publicly disclosed Which simply gives businesses and manufacturers another built-in opportunity to influence the process before releasing critical product safety information Section 6b puts american lives and health at risk with burdensome procedures and delays that block public disclosure of crucial information on dangerous products 6b is a relic that handcuffs one of the commission's core regulatory functions Its ability to warn the public about potentially defective products It also compels the cpsc to waste already scarce budgetary resources on procedures that do not serve a consumer protection or product safety goal Public citizen supports the goals of the proposed rule to update the regulation that interprets 6b Public citizen is acutely aware of the cpsc's enormous jurisdictional obligations and the challenges it posed by disproportionately modest resources Despite this we believe if the commission proceeds with its mandate to prioritize consumer safety Above all else including the interest of business and industry That the cpsc can fulfill its decree to advance product safety and protect the lives and health of americans Thank you again for the opportunity to speak this afternoon Thank you very much. Mr. Gregg. Ms. Kern Thank you acting chairman berkel commissioners. Thank you for holding today's hearing and for providing this forum for constructive dialogue On behalf of the american apparel and footwear association I appreciate the opportunity to testify today regarding the consumer product safety commission's agenda and priorities for fiscal years 2018 and 2019 AFA is the national trade association representing apparel footwear travel goods and other sewn product companies and their suppliers Which compete in the global market? Representing more than a thousand world famous name brands our membership includes 350 companies drawn from throughout the supply chain We are proud of the open and collaborative relationship that we share with the commission product safety is a top priority for AFA as such AFA supports the commission's priorities of Focusing on risk import surveillance outreach and education data-driven analysis With many of our members engaged in the production and sale of children's clothing and footwear We are on the front lines of product safety It is our members who design and execute the quality and compliance programs that stitch product safety into every garment and shoe We make to support our members in this effort AFA has taken the lead in educating our industry on this development Interpretation Implementation of product safety standards and regulations It's because of these efforts the priority that we place on product safety And the relationship that we maintain with the commission that we are grateful for the opportunity to share our suggestions for the commission's agenda and priorities For the next two years The three priorities that we hope the commission will adopt are as follows Firstly, we're currently working with the commission to review the testing burdens associated with testing of spandex to meet requirements of the flammable fabrics act This act exempted fabrics regardless of weight made entirely from or a combination of six types of fibers The exemption however did not include spandex even though spandex blend garments consistently past flammability tests Currently the addition of spandex to a garment even if it only makes up one percent of the blend mandates a test of that garment That would otherwise not have been tested Yet the tests after tests show that spandex is not flammable Either by itself or in combination with these other fibers AFA compiled test results from spandex flammability tests and provided these findings to the commission to discuss Exempting spandex from current testing standards We appreciate the commission's willingness to work together on reviewing the addition of spandex to the exempted fibers list Secondly, we need to make sure that individual states and other countries have a common and consistent approach to product safety This is not currently the case The proliferation of conflicting and contradictory product safety standards among the states and abroad is quite likely the biggest product safety challenge of our time We believe that the commission has tools through which it can foster a more unified national and international approach to product safety We would hope that the commission can focus some of its resources on this priority issue Finally, we would like to stress the importance of the commission using AFA as well as other Associations as a resource when developing not only standards, but guidance documents and educational events We believe that it is integral to our mission to help in Educate the industry on its domestic and international product safety compliance obligations AFA and its members truly appreciate the opportunity to work with the commission And we look forward to continuing that relationship over the next two years and beyond In conclusion, we're delighted to have a positive relationship with the commission And we believe that there are many opportunities for further collaboration We look forward to working with the commission to reduce testing and regulatory burdens Harmonize the product safety standard approach between states and abroad And to build collaboration between the industry and the commission for the benefit of consumer product safety and public health I look forward to taking your questions. Thank you. Thank you very much. Ms. Moore Thank you acting chairman berkel and commissioners for holding this hearing today And for allowing me to speak on behalf of the toy association We appreciate cpsc's continued engagement and outreach to the regulated community and thank the commission for soliciting input from interested stakeholders By way of background the toy association represents a thousand businesses Including toy manufacturers importers and retailers as well as toy inventors Designers and testing labs who are all involved in bringing safe and fun toys and games for children to the market Toy safety is the top priority for the industry and our members have long been leaders in toy safety One of our main priorities for the agency would be to develop Final rules exempting materials from third-party testing requirements Toy testing is a critical component of product safety assurance However, toy companies and more specifically small toy companies still struggle with crippling costs associated with unnecessary and redundant third-party tests The agency issued an npr last year exempting several plastics from phthalate testing And we are hopeful cpsc will issue the final rule very soon These exemptions would dramatically decrease the cost of testing without compromising safety Thanks to additional funding from congress the agency commissioned several studies recently On the presence of phthalates and additional plastic materials Manufactured wood and textiles as well as the presence of heavy metals and manufactured wood and textiles Based on the positive results of these studies Along with the data the toy industry has previously submitted We strongly urge cpsc to move quickly to develop rules exempting Testing of materials demonstrated to be highly likely to comply with cpsia mandated limits We were also pleased to see the agency issue a request for information seeking ways to reduce all regulatory burdens And we will be submitting further items for consideration in response to that request Another area where resources should continue to be focused is on import surveillance Cpsc has done a tremendous job in capturing violative products at the ports of entry Before they make their way into the hands of consumers We urge continued improvement in the implementation of the risk assessment methodology To more accurately target violative product products at the ports of entry while allowing compliant goods to flow unimpeded We also urge improvement at the time it takes to reach a conclusion regarding compliance After a product is detained for examination ideally less than five calendar days Our members still struggle with shipments being stopped and detained repeatedly Often for extended periods of time and then ultimately released without any finding of fault Or in some cases without any examination taking place at all Because toys are highly regulated and mostly imported under single hts classification They are targeted more frequently than many other products regulated by cpsc Detention and examination costs unhappy customers miss sales opportunities and cancelled orders Are just some of the issues our members have reported One suggestion we have previously raised with agency staff is to allow importers to sample detained shipments for testing At a cpsc approved private laboratory Similar to the process currently allowed by other regulators. For example FDA allows importers of some goods to have detained products tested at a private laboratory to obtain a quicker result We would also like to thank cpsc for increasing communication between the inspectors and the importers When products are detained by cpsc officials Maintaining open communication is paramount as companies first want to know why the product was stopped And then is there a problem that they can address? For toy association members safety consideration happens well before the product product is imported And they would like to be able to provide whatever information is necessary to facilitate the examination process We hope to see this communication maintained and even approved upon going forward As cpsc continues to increase communications with importers We hope that the ongoing dialogue lowers the importers risk profile and builds a basis for a trusted trader like program A trusted trader light if you will Which would reduce the number of inspection and importer faces However, any such program should be accessible to both large and small companies As the agency is well aware joining the cbp trusted trader program Or even the ct pat program is very costly Time-consuming and out of reach for many companies, especially small businesses We envision this we envision those participating in the trusted trader light program Would be companies willing to go through some extra safety checks to enable an easier entry process Employing a trusted trader light program could decrease the workload for cpsc While at the same time increasing the hit rate for identifying violative products We were pleased to learn the e-filing pilot program was a success As cpsc considers moving to a beta pilot program We would ask that the agency focus on collecting information critical to finding dangerous products As the agency ramps up its participation in the a single window program It is important to consider the amount of time estimated by agency staff to submit the necessary information According to the april 2017 report Issued on the alpha pilot it took participants 10 hours to retrieve all the necessary information Then another 10 to 15 hours per product to manually enter it into the system This is not an insignificant period of time As the agency considers moving forward and determining what certificate agent what certificate information must be submitted And must bear in mind that the amount of time a company will need to dedicate to this effort Would be extremely costly with very little if any safety benefits seen by the consumer Certifications for toys and other regulated products are required by cpsia However, to the best of our knowledge the current system of providing a certificate within 24 hours of a request Has worked well and with much less burden on the regulated community Intellectual and property intellectual property infringement has become an increasingly significant issue for the toy industry Do in part to the increased e-commerce prevalence IP i