The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "CPSC" ...
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Shattered Bakeware
Consumer Reports conducted a year-long fight to win three Freedom of Information requests and uncover product safety information about a common kitchen item, glass bakeware, which had been reported to shatter violently in consumers' kitchens. As a result of the story, we unearthed information, which companies fought fiercely to keep secret, that showed there was real cause for concern. We also did real-life testing in our labs. And now the CPSC is investigating.
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Trouble In Toyland
After a toddler died from eating tiny magnets that fell off a toy, the Magnetix Building Set, the family contacted KOMO-TV. The following investigation found that building sets fell apart regularly and found "3 other children on the West Coast who were at death's doorstep after swallowing magnets."
Tags: toys; hazard; magnets; children; death; health risk; toymakers; CPSC
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The Problem with Recalls/Hazard in Aisle 5
In the strong tradition of Consumer's Union reports on dangerous products, these articles look specifically at the six federal agencies responsible for "overseeing the safety of the full range of consumer products." The investigation found that weak laws and poor enforcement of recalls often result in dangerous and hazardous products making their way into homes across the country. Large percentages of recalled products are never turned in, one in three toys violates mandatory safety standards, and recalled goods are often exported to unsuspecting consumers in foreign countries.
Tags: Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC); hazardous goods
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Windows of Worry
A local boy's death by power window strangulation was called a "freak" accident by police, but The Press-Enterprise discovered that dozens of children have been strangled to death by power windows across the U.S.
Tags: power windows strangulation; childhood deaths; NHTSA; CPSC; Kids N Cars; Congress; automakers; product liability; power window switches
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It' No Accident: How Corporations Sell Dangerous Baby Products
Felcher reveals case after case of babies and toddlers being injured or killed by cribs, cradles, carriers, car seats, strollers and other products supposedly designed to be safe. The author, a former marketing lecturer, examines the hideous tricks that big businesses use to hide from the public the risks that their products pose to children. The book depicts how the lack of enough regulatory power over baby products has given faulty companies the leeway to settle wrongful death lawsuits outside courts and to push grieving parents to accept gag orders.
Tags: BOOK; FOIA; safety; children; Juvenile Product Manufacturers Association; lawyers; litigation; Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC); Consumer Product Safety Act; recalls; advertising; Graco; Hasbro; Century Products
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Children's Products and Risk
The article details problems and concerns with the Consumer Product Safety Commission's ability to keep unsafe infant products off the market. Each year many deaths and injuries occur as the result of unsafe products. But unlike other agencies the CPSC does not require mandatory testing of products before they are released to the market. The author also argues that the agency is underfunded.
Tags: product safety; infant products; U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission; Kids in Danger; Children's Product Safety Act; reverse FOIA
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Product Recalls: A Defective Process
A Sun-Sentinel investigation of "the nation's product recall system and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission" revealed that "vital information about dangerous products is kept from consumers because of federal secrecy laws" and dangerous products are left on the market even after the government discovers they have injured Americans.
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Killer Cribs
ABC News reports "how a single screw can fall out of a crib and cause the strangulation of a child. The design is common in the crib industry. This type of hazard has killed at least 37 children in the last 10 years."
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UL: Still Safety's Symbol
The UL symbol is stamped on more than 15 billion products and small appliances a year. Yet troubling incidents and documents from the CPSC indicate that the typical seal of Underwriters Laboratories, the independent testing service that examines appliances and other items to make sure they're are functioning safely, may be little more than decoration.
Tags: consumer product safety; appliances; fire hazard; federal regulation FOIA
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No title (id: 14026)
Consumer Reports examines so-called "child-proofing" products designed to keep homes safe for children. The article looks at several of these products in over a dozen categories and finds at least fourteen of them not acceptable because of safety drawbacks. (January 1997)
Tags: Home safer home Safety hazards Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) 5 pgs.