November 20, 2023 • 29 mins
"MaryAnn McGerty Sieber, Product Investigator with the U. S. Product Safety Commission provides holiday safety tips and makes us aware of recalls".
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(00:00):
Hi. I'm Sylvia Moss, andthis is Insight, a presentation of iHeartMedia
where we really do care about ourlook of communities and all our listeners who
live here. Well. Here weare again getting ready to celebrate the upcoming
holidays, a time often known asthe happiest time of the year. But
in order to make sure our holidaysstay happy, you also have to make
(00:20):
sure that you keep a level andfocused head, whether it's decorating, banking,
shopping, or anything else that youthink about you that you want to
do. And that's exactly why you'regonna love this one. That's exactly why
I've again invited the Guru of safetyback to remind us, you, like
that very end, what we shouldbe aware of. You know her.
It's Maryammcguerty Sieber. She's the Productinvestigator from the US Product Safety Commission in
(00:45):
Washington, DC. Mary, Anne, you know what, when you think
about all that blown ney that's goingdown in Congress, how dysfunctional they are,
it really makes people feel safe toknow that you and your agency are
doing what you're paid to do,taking care of the American people. So
I got to thank you right upfront, thank you for that, and
also I'd like to get right intoit because we got a lot of stuff
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going on almost immediately after Thanksgiving.There's a lot of families that get out
to that perfect they're looking for thatperfect Christmas tree, and they can hardly
wait to get it home. AndI understand that on the average, more
than two hundred house fires are causedby Christmas trees each year. What are
your best sefety tips for whether youwant to get a live tree or an
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artificial tree. Well, first,for a fresh tree, you want to
keep it on, stay greener,longer, and be less of a fire
hazard, as you mentioned. Sonumber one, you're going out to look
for it. You want to checkfor the freshness right when you're out shopping.
So really a couple of tips.Check the needles. The fresh needles
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are hard to pull from the branches. Okay, you should be able to
when you bend those little bend thebranches in your fingers, between your fingers.
You should feel fresh needles. Thattree, as the limbs itself should
not be snapping back. Always alwaysask them to cut a couple of inches,
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stay off the butt of the tree. That the but yes, okay,
the trunk but off the bottom ofthe tree. And also you can
kind of grab the tree itself andmaybe tap it, bounce it a couple
of times to see just how manyneedles might be falling off. So you
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you buy that fresh tree, youget all that done wherever you're buying it
at. You get it home,but you're not ready to, you know,
kind of get it up and getit assembled. You have some of
the things that you need to do, or you're doing it the next day.
So get it in water, putit in the garage, put it
in the shed, get it ina bucket of water immediately. You want
to get it there because it's goingto drink up water very quickly, especially
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in the first couple of days.So you get it in the buck of
water, and you decide the nextday that you're pulling it into the house.
We'll move on to kind of hasit has some tips for the house.
But let me just kind of justquickly mentioned artificial trees. You want
to make sure that the artificial treehave is fire resistant. If you buy
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one, look for a label,a statement, one that that specifically says
that there, you know, anartificial tree is the kind of thing that
it either can be handed down fromyou know, one family to another,
or you know, maybe you've hadit in your own home for so many
years and hey, that label thereis no label in there any longer.
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So you know, maybe think aboutit might be time to replace that artificial
tree if that is the case.And like I said, we're bringing the
tree now into the house. Unfortunately, as you mentioned the statistic in terms
of fire, a couple of ideashere. One is the tree itself and
how it can dry out, youknow, a live tree, of course,
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and that becomes the fire hazard.And second is are the lights that
we put up on the tree.So are you the family that very neatly
takes it off the tree if you, good luck find one of those huh
yes? So if you're like everyoneelse, it wasn't put back together in
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such a neat organized way. Youpull it out from the attic and you
begin to pull those wires apart,and sometimes you in that you know,
time might be yanking something and yousee that you've broken a couple of sockets,
some lights. None of us stillhas that little bag that came with
the lights, you know, foryou, yes, that's long gone.
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And then maybe you see some issueswith the wires themselves, and you see
some fraying. So these are youknow, really signs that the lights,
you know, really should be replaced. This isn't the kind of thing that
you want a jury rig or tapeup. As well as the besides the
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condition the lights themselves. So lights, there are two types of lights out
there. There are outdoor lights andtheir indoor lights. Please use them accordingly.
The lights that are made for insideof our houses cannot withstand the elements
that of the crazy weather that weget in our area anywhere, from wind
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to rain to the lead or snow. Hopefully not, but you don't know.
So use them as they are intended, as it is labeled on the
on the lights themselves and the lights, you know, we think about how
many strands can we connect together becauseit's just so easy. We don't recommend
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that you connect more than three setsand then you begin another set of of
lights, you know, on thetree in the window and going back to
the fire the tree itself. Werecommend that you know when you have it
in the house. Often I knowin our house we're removing it, removing
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furniture because you want to put itin certain locations, it seems to get
moved around. In addition to whichyou have to pay attention to, what
are the heating sources in your house? Do you have a fireplace? Yes,
the tree, it looks great nextto the fireplace, but think about
it if it's a live tree.Again, we go back to the possibility
of drying it out. Fireplace,radiators, other heating sources. Let's say
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on the on the on the floor. Maybe you need to shut something down
and close off a particular event,so you want to, you know,
reduce the amount of heat that iscoming from certain points of your house and
basically overall, you know, thehollow holidays in terms of lights, trees,
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and heating sources. That fireplace isbeautiful, but do you have a
logged you know, tree or doyou have a gas fireplace? I should
say you know how you use it? When you use it? Are you
you know? We don't recommend thatyou take the wrapping paper that you have
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and use that fireplace as a trashcan. The outside of the wrapping paper
has chemical materials may up into itand it can cause cause some type of
flash fire. So that's not thekind of thing, you know, if
you have a fireplace in the house, be it whether it's a gas or
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a log fire, real fireplace,please be careful about how you use it,
when you use it, and insome cases, of course sometimes whether
we get it cleaned open the flu. You know, these are just really
tips that we talk a little bitabout with home heating and other various parts
of our house. You know,I think and I hope people aren't doing
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or continue to do this. Itdoesn't make any sense, but that's when
a lot of accidents, hope whenyou happen when you don't use your head.
But people love candles absolutely positively.I would think you never put a
lit candle on it because you seemlike in the old and das in the
eighteen hundreds, people would have candleson the Christmas tree. I don't know
if that happened. I don't knowif there were how many fires there were
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that way, But to me,that's such an idiot would do that.
It's you're asking for trouble and people, and unfortunately people still do that.
But we can get this, Wecan get the same effect by artificial candles
that we can put on our tree. Gives you the same look about it.
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But we of course never recommend usingany type of light candle on a
tree or near any other type ofevergreens. When you're using a candle,
always make sure you have a nonflammable holder. So what that means is
you're not taking the candle itself andjust popping it right down on some type
of wood furniture. Keep candles awayfrom other decorations and other flammable things,
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wrapping paper where you place the candles. Believe it or not, some people
don't think about the ventilation, sowe could unfortunately see situations where you're talking
about putting a candle in, saya china cabinet where it is completely enclosed.
Putting it on the dining room table, you know, for the holiday
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meal, looks great, but makesure you extinguish it afterwards because of what
can happen from pets to younger childrenand the use of candles. I mean,
honestly, we use candles year round, but during the holiday season we're
probably using them a little bit moreoften for parties or dinners or what have
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you. So when you are layinga candle, stay in the room in
which the candle is. If you'releaving that room, please extinguish that candle.
Unattended candles or some of the leadingsources of fires during the holiday season.
It's much like we talk about withcandles. Let me throw that back
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to the lights as well. Atthe end of the day, I know
where you are very proud about thedisplay and the time that we put in,
be it whether it's the tree andinside your home or it's the outdoor
display, but we recommend that youturn them off either when you go to
bed at night or when you leaveyour house, say to go shopping or
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going to a party. You're goingto be out of the house for an
extended period of time. We don'tknow what can happen with you know,
maybe the weather and other sources orsomething might occur. And again it is
not being in our home, youknow, during a period of time,
whether we're going to work or goingout at night, we recommend that you
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turn off the lights and of courseextinguished candles as we're leaving your house.
Well, you know, I thinkis a good point to mention the fact
that smoke detectors and carbon monoxide ourdetectors are also not only during the year,
but especially during the holidays. Whythey're so important to have. Yes,
and you know, we got atime I guess with the changing of
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the clocks looking at batteries, andyes, that's a good referral to maybe
take a look and see what youhave in your home. There are the
combination both fire and COEO detectors availablefor consumers out there. But and each
um also does have various you knowsetups. In my house, it's hardwired
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with a battery backup, but thatalso runs the source sometimes where why is
it at two am when all ofa sudden there's some type of dust or
there might be a bug inside therethat sets off the alarms. So that
might be something that when we goto change the batteries we look at the
condition of them that maybe needs alittle bit of cleaning. It doesn't sound
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like the most glamorous idea for aholiday gift, but if you have family
members, especially our seniors, ourparents, our grandparents, aunts and uncles
who still live in their original homes, check and see what the status is
of a you know, how manysmoke detectors do they have in their house.
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Typically we see one in each ofthe bedrooms. As far as the
CEO detecture, we recommend they beput at least in the hallway near the
bedrooms. You might think, well, you know, I have my heater
in the basement, let me putit right next to that heater, so
if there's ever a problem it willgo off. Well that might be the
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case, but the problem is theheaters dancers in the basement and you sleep
two floors above, so feal risesthe alarm goes off, you can't hear
that alarm going off two floors below. So what we recommend at a minimum
in the hallways near the bedrooms,if you can afford more than one one
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on each level of the home,and they don't have to be difficult to
install. Some of them are outthere that you can simply plug them into
an outlet you know nearby if youhave a concern. The symptoms for carbon
monoxide are very similar to the fluSo I think as adults we tend not
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to maybe act as quickly as wemight say with our kids or grandchildren when
we are taking them in a NewYork minute off to the pediatrician because of
some type of you know, ailment, and as adults we don't we will
put that off. So if youare seeing some type of illness or symptoms
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in your home. But then youleave your home and you feel better,
you and you don't have a carbonmonoxide detector, it might be worth investing.
You can always, of course,reach out to your local fire department
if you need some education about youknow, carbon monoxide detectors and and you
know CPSC. Through our website,we have a lot of information. Let
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me give you that to you now. It is www dot cp SC dot
gov gov. There's lots of greatinformation that talks about home heating, be
it whether it's smoke detectors, carbonmonoxide detectors, fireplaces, holidays safety,
we're talking about lights and candles andtrimmings and paper. Lots of great information
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for consumers that you can kind ofget caught up if you aren't familiar with
our website and every recall that we'veever done we've been around over fifty years.
Every recall that we've ever done ison the website. So that's a
great source for all consumers out there, because, you know, let's safe
it, products are expensive and especiallyif say you know, maybe new baby
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is coming, or you know youwant to have some items in your home
because there's a new grandchild along theway, or you still have the crib
that you used with your daughter andshe is now twenty eight years old?
Is that is that crib still safe? You know? What are the tips
that I need? You know,it's been twenty eight years since you had
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an infant in the house. Nowyou're starting all over again because you want
to have you know, something availablefor you know, your family when your
grandchildren come to visit. So what'sthe condition? You know, kind of
get caught up on what is youknow, baby safety information and what can
I use? And you know,what's safe? Okay, I have something
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that I see it's been recalled.What do I need to do it?
It's very easy to use. Givesyou specific information regarding any recalls and hell
and what as to what do Ineed to do to make sure that the
product I'm using either for my children, my grandchildren or myself is safe?
You know what? It's funny thatyou mentioned that you and I've been doing
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a program a couple times a yearfor years and years. And what I
started doing after I investigate your siteand saw how much I mean, you
can download posters, Teachers can useit in school. There's something your recalls,
as you said, and you cansearch them in so many different ways.
But what I started doing, excuseme, is what I would give
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a wedding or a baby shower giftwith the count with the card that we're
in it, I put your websiteand people mind. At first thought I
was a little goofy, but thenthey do anyway. But people start coming
back to me and say, ohmy gosh, thank you that I didn't
realize this or I didn't realize that. And that's why it is so important
to check out your whip because you'reup. You've got a plethora on things
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out there that can help people.There really is a lot of information that
you know, we really hit itfrom babies straight through to seniors. I
mean when we when I talk aboutthe recalls we do, we do anywhere
from two hundred and fifty to fourhundred and fifty recalls every year. We
could be in the news almost everysingle day, and a lot of times
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people will not recognize the name ofthe agency. But when you start begin
to talk to them about recalls,then they realize who it is and what
we're all about. And it isvery you know, I emphasize a lot
this time of year. But beinga label reader is so important. I
mean, don't scar the information thatis on product packaging. It is required
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by very often by the consumer ProductSafety Commissions that let's just say, with
toys, there are age requirements thatthat we put out in reference to manufacturers
they are making products for children inage categories, specifically one under the age
of three. If there are smallparts in that package, we require that
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they identify that there are small partson there and also put an age recommendation
on there that helps you know thebuyer, the parent, the grandparent,
the and or uncle who are buyingfor kids. I think that you've got
the smartest child or grandchild that wasever born. I mean, come on,
that's worse and and also too formultiple ages. My girls are two
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and a half years apart. Theyounger one always thought she was the same
age as the older one in termsof I can play with that, you
know, and and although you maythink and maybe your two year old doesn't
put things into her mouth, youknow our caution and are we call threshold
is three and under where the smallparts is an issue. But between the
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ages of three and five, wealso require manufacturers to identify that should there
be any small parts, even thoughwe're kind of out of that window of
under three, we you know,kind of advise that family like myself,
you know, who have a coupleof years apart, that hey, what
you're buying for the four year olddoes still contain small parts. This is
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something that maybe the two and ahalf year old, you know, shouldn't
play with. That's where you beginto separate toy sometimes, you know,
within within the family and you getinto the art supplies, or the chemicals
or the chemistry sets and various otherthings. But in the end, be
a label reader. Pay attention tothe information that's on the product packaging.
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Use that guide for yourself. Youcan make the adjustments. You know what
it is that you're buying, soyou buy it so they are safe,
you know, be it. Whetherit's a bike, yes, we want
to you know, give them sometime with the bike so they don't completely
grow out of it. But you'renot buying them a bike that is for
you know, a couple of yearsolder than what are because they will not
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be safe while they're writing it.You know. One of the things that
really that's stuck in my mind.He knew, and I've discussed this before,
is the fact that the batteries andtiny batteries, if your child,
I mean, there's always a chokingissue, but if your child tends to
those little tiny batteries that are likeflat like a dime, the batteries,
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yeah, you get them in yourc It's not only choking that can kill
a child if it gets into itintestines. Absolutely, So what you want
to kind of keep in mind hereis typically we see them. They can
be in regular products, says,such as they are remote control or even
a key fob for the keys fora car. But they also some are
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the smaller batteries are also another typeof toys, you know, for instance,
and wear and tear and things getdislodged. And as you mentioned,
yes, of course, ingesting onebattery can is hazardous. But when you
begin to if a child ingests morethan one, they attract so they will
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connect to each other, and yes, the damage can be very hazardous to
a child. You're talking about,you know, an operation in you know,
a medical faiure. So if youhave a concern maybe your child who
is a toddler still crawling around onthe floor, you see some type of
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symptoms and you don't think something's notquite right, reach out to your pediattrician
and talk to them first. Don'tdismiss because we don't necessarily always realize that
maybe a child has ingested something right, So take the precaution, you know,
just in case that you think thatmaybe she did put something into her
mouth, reach out to the pediastraction, talk to them about it, talk
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to them about symptoms. It's betterto be precautionary and talk to someone so
that you can get the proper guidance. And unless you are a parent who
has a couple pair of eyes inthe back of your head, what you
seriously, it never ends and Christmasis especially critical time to be aware of
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these things. But also for ourpets. Yes, you know we talked.
We talked a little bit about thatas far as Candle is concerned.
But think about think about during theduring the work day, when we're at
work, you know, our kidsare at school. There's no one in
the house but maybe a couple ofpets. So let's introduce now, you
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know, a holiday tree, andlet's introduce some evergreens. So these are
type of items that I think peoplequestion each year, what is poisonous,
what is not poisonous. My recommendationis contracts your local poison control center.
They have a complete list that cankind of go down, you know,
right with you. My mom hada cat, so we had to make
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sure that if we bought her anything, it wasn't something that could harm the
cat. Yeah, you know,these are things that we don't really think
about. But yes, our pets, Ju spends an awful lot of time
alone, you know, in ourhouse while we were at work or at
school. That's right. The thingwhen I think, I think, when
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I think Christmas, I think atthe tree. I think at the fun
with the family. I think atthe warm fireplace. And I also,
because of you, I think ofthose nuts out there. They're still making
their turkeys on turkey friars outside closeto the aluminum siding. Some places still
have aluminum signing. I think aboutpeople that leave their ovens on, forget
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they have that last back of cookiesand go to bed. I mean there's
a lot to do as far ascooking and baking, things that you didn't
need to be aware of, right, Yes, so let's talk about you
know, in your home. Maybe, yes, you are you know,
bringing children invove and yet you're andintroducing making cookies and other type of items.
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Please be careful about children in andaround an oven and a stove and
how hot that the sources can be. Making sure that no one is around
while the door oven door is open. As far as the we sort of
say like a couple feet you know, space around the oven itself to kind
of keep kids away from that area. Yes, you get outdoors and you're
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talking about turkey fryers, we reallyrecommend that it be from the house,
the sheds, the garage, anytype of structure, it be at least
six feet away from that type ofarea. And much like we talk about
in the summertime with a grill,get all the items that you need to
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prepare that turkey and have them assembledand at the ready there so that you
don't have to leave that area.So you're talking you know, pets and
kids. That oil. I've neverused a turkey frier, but that oil
is very hot and accidents can occur. So you have all the ingredients and
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everything that you need right there.It can be a really fun idea and
a fun way in which to cookthe turkey. But have all the stuff
ready for you, because hey,who wants to spending the time in a
hospital emergency? That's right, youknow, there's never enough time with you,
Maryanne. But there are one ortwo things I want to touch on
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quickly. Tell us about online shoppingwhat we should be aware of. Okay,
so we recommend that you go tocourse sources that you are most familiar
with, and also pay attention ofthat price. You know, no,
you know, maybe that great buyis not such a great buy. Any
company that wants to do business witha consumer here in the US has to
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abide by the federal regulations from CPSC. Is when you leave this country physically
in your buying something in another country, that that is those regulations. So
let's just say a company is fromEngland, you were making a purchase.
They're selling to a consumer here inthe US. They have to abide by
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the regulations here in the US asfar as online shopping is concerned. We
also recommend and know that CPSC islooking at other secondhand sites. They work
with the CPSC in terms of notselling recalled products, and we have employees
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specifically we are looking at these secondhandsites to make sure that companies are not
attempting to take recall products and putthem on the secondhand market. Always buy
or beware. Pay attention to whatyou're buying. Make sure that you're not
buying things secondhand. Make sure,you know, I think maybe buying something
out of a you know, avan or in a parking lot, it
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doesn't have all the pieces that gowith it, especially batteries. We see
a lot of times with the scootersand e bikes where there are fires associated
with these because of the batteries.When you buy these, you're not getting
the complete product, or it isa battery that is not intended for that
particular product that e bike. Solooking at you know, those types of
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things, make sure that you're buyingthe complete set, that it is matched
what it is, and that youare using it properly. Wrapping up,
I'd like to ask you do youhave any quick recent recalls that you want
us to know about. Sure,we had a recent one came out of
Best Buy. These were pressure cookers. It's probably good idea to mention it
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because this was just under one million. These are Insigna pressure cookers. These
were fire hazards where there can besome incorrect markings on the innerpot that can
cause it to overflow. Let methrow you or give you the inf mission.
Regarding tpsu's website, it is wwwdot CPSC dot gov. And you
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have a hotline number two right,yes, it is one eight hundred six
three eight two seven seven two,Marianne. Nobody provides better. I'm sorry,
Darrey, you were saying no,no, that's fine. If you
call money through Friday, Okay,normal business hours, somebody will answer the
phone. It's not all hours.Leave us a message. We'll call you
back and you will trust me.You will. Nobody provides better advice and
(28:30):
resources. And and you know,Marion, it's right at your fingertips anytime
you want it. You just goon that fabulous website. To you,
thank you, thank you, andMaryanne as always have a happy and say
holiday the same to you. Thankyou. To my listeners, I very
highly recommend all the wonderful and veryuseful resources. They'll do you every single
day, as I said, throughUS Consumer Product Safety Commission website. Again,
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it's cp SC dot gov. Also, if you want to listen inside,
it's on of our iHeart stations,or catch it any time on your
favorite podcast step I'm Sylvie Moss.This has been insight Thank you so much
for listening. To see you nextweek.
Hi. I'm Sylvia Moss, andthis is Insight, a presentation of iHeartMedia
where we really do care about ourlook of communities and all our listeners who
live here. Well. Here weare again getting ready to celebrate the upcoming
holidays, a time often known asthe happiest time of the year. But
in order to make sure our holidaysstay happy, you also have to make
(00:20):
sure that you keep a level andfocused head, whether it's decorating, banking,
shopping, or anything else that youthink about you that you want to
do. And that's exactly why you'regonna love this one. That's exactly why
I've again invited the Guru of safetyback to remind us, you, like
that very end, what we shouldbe aware of. You know her.
It's Maryammcguerty Sieber. She's the Productinvestigator from the US Product Safety Commission in
(00:45):
Washington, DC. Mary, Anne, you know what, when you think
about all that blown ney that's goingdown in Congress, how dysfunctional they are,
it really makes people feel safe toknow that you and your agency are
doing what you're paid to do,taking care of the American people. So
I got to thank you right upfront, thank you for that, and
also I'd like to get right intoit because we got a lot of stuff
(01:07):
going on almost immediately after Thanksgiving.There's a lot of families that get out
to that perfect they're looking for thatperfect Christmas tree, and they can hardly
wait to get it home. AndI understand that on the average, more
than two hundred house fires are causedby Christmas trees each year. What are
your best sefety tips for whether youwant to get a live tree or an
(01:30):
artificial tree. Well, first,for a fresh tree, you want to
keep it on, stay greener,longer, and be less of a fire
hazard, as you mentioned. Sonumber one, you're going out to look
for it. You want to checkfor the freshness right when you're out shopping.
So really a couple of tips.Check the needles. The fresh needles
(01:51):
are hard to pull from the branches. Okay, you should be able to
when you bend those little bend thebranches in your fingers, between your fingers.
You should feel fresh needles. Thattree, as the limbs itself should
not be snapping back. Always alwaysask them to cut a couple of inches,
(02:12):
stay off the butt of the tree. That the but yes, okay,
the trunk but off the bottom ofthe tree. And also you can
kind of grab the tree itself andmaybe tap it, bounce it a couple
of times to see just how manyneedles might be falling off. So you
(02:34):
you buy that fresh tree, youget all that done wherever you're buying it
at. You get it home,but you're not ready to, you know,
kind of get it up and getit assembled. You have some of
the things that you need to do, or you're doing it the next day.
So get it in water, putit in the garage, put it
in the shed, get it ina bucket of water immediately. You want
to get it there because it's goingto drink up water very quickly, especially
(03:01):
in the first couple of days.So you get it in the buck of
water, and you decide the nextday that you're pulling it into the house.
We'll move on to kind of hasit has some tips for the house.
But let me just kind of justquickly mentioned artificial trees. You want
to make sure that the artificial treehave is fire resistant. If you buy
(03:23):
one, look for a label,a statement, one that that specifically says
that there, you know, anartificial tree is the kind of thing that
it either can be handed down fromyou know, one family to another,
or you know, maybe you've hadit in your own home for so many
years and hey, that label thereis no label in there any longer.
(03:43):
So you know, maybe think aboutit might be time to replace that artificial
tree if that is the case.And like I said, we're bringing the
tree now into the house. Unfortunately, as you mentioned the statistic in terms
of fire, a couple of ideashere. One is the tree itself and
how it can dry out, youknow, a live tree, of course,
(04:08):
and that becomes the fire hazard.And second is are the lights that
we put up on the tree.So are you the family that very neatly
takes it off the tree if you, good luck find one of those huh
yes? So if you're like everyoneelse, it wasn't put back together in
(04:28):
such a neat organized way. Youpull it out from the attic and you
begin to pull those wires apart,and sometimes you in that you know,
time might be yanking something and yousee that you've broken a couple of sockets,
some lights. None of us stillhas that little bag that came with
the lights, you know, foryou, yes, that's long gone.
(04:53):
And then maybe you see some issueswith the wires themselves, and you see
some fraying. So these are youknow, really signs that the lights,
you know, really should be replaced. This isn't the kind of thing that
you want a jury rig or tapeup. As well as the besides the
(05:13):
condition the lights themselves. So lights, there are two types of lights out
there. There are outdoor lights andtheir indoor lights. Please use them accordingly.
The lights that are made for insideof our houses cannot withstand the elements
that of the crazy weather that weget in our area anywhere, from wind
(05:34):
to rain to the lead or snow. Hopefully not, but you don't know.
So use them as they are intended, as it is labeled on the
on the lights themselves and the lights, you know, we think about how
many strands can we connect together becauseit's just so easy. We don't recommend
(05:54):
that you connect more than three setsand then you begin another set of of
lights, you know, on thetree in the window and going back to
the fire the tree itself. Werecommend that you know when you have it
in the house. Often I knowin our house we're removing it, removing
(06:18):
furniture because you want to put itin certain locations, it seems to get
moved around. In addition to whichyou have to pay attention to, what
are the heating sources in your house? Do you have a fireplace? Yes,
the tree, it looks great nextto the fireplace, but think about
it if it's a live tree.Again, we go back to the possibility
of drying it out. Fireplace,radiators, other heating sources. Let's say
(06:42):
on the on the on the floor. Maybe you need to shut something down
and close off a particular event,so you want to, you know,
reduce the amount of heat that iscoming from certain points of your house and
basically overall, you know, thehollow holidays in terms of lights, trees,
(07:02):
and heating sources. That fireplace isbeautiful, but do you have a
logged you know, tree or doyou have a gas fireplace? I should
say you know how you use it? When you use it? Are you
you know? We don't recommend thatyou take the wrapping paper that you have
(07:24):
and use that fireplace as a trashcan. The outside of the wrapping paper
has chemical materials may up into itand it can cause cause some type of
flash fire. So that's not thekind of thing, you know, if
you have a fireplace in the house, be it whether it's a gas or
(07:44):
a log fire, real fireplace,please be careful about how you use it,
when you use it, and insome cases, of course sometimes whether
we get it cleaned open the flu. You know, these are just really
tips that we talk a little bitabout with home heating and other various parts
of our house. You know,I think and I hope people aren't doing
(08:09):
or continue to do this. Itdoesn't make any sense, but that's when
a lot of accidents, hope whenyou happen when you don't use your head.
But people love candles absolutely positively.I would think you never put a
lit candle on it because you seemlike in the old and das in the
eighteen hundreds, people would have candleson the Christmas tree. I don't know
if that happened. I don't knowif there were how many fires there were
(08:31):
that way, But to me,that's such an idiot would do that.
It's you're asking for trouble and people, and unfortunately people still do that.
But we can get this, Wecan get the same effect by artificial candles
that we can put on our tree. Gives you the same look about it.
(08:52):
But we of course never recommend usingany type of light candle on a
tree or near any other type ofevergreens. When you're using a candle,
always make sure you have a nonflammable holder. So what that means is
you're not taking the candle itself andjust popping it right down on some type
of wood furniture. Keep candles awayfrom other decorations and other flammable things,
(09:18):
wrapping paper where you place the candles. Believe it or not, some people
don't think about the ventilation, sowe could unfortunately see situations where you're talking
about putting a candle in, saya china cabinet where it is completely enclosed.
Putting it on the dining room table, you know, for the holiday
(09:39):
meal, looks great, but makesure you extinguish it afterwards because of what
can happen from pets to younger childrenand the use of candles. I mean,
honestly, we use candles year round, but during the holiday season we're
probably using them a little bit moreoften for parties or dinners or what have
(10:01):
you. So when you are layinga candle, stay in the room in
which the candle is. If you'releaving that room, please extinguish that candle.
Unattended candles or some of the leadingsources of fires during the holiday season.
It's much like we talk about withcandles. Let me throw that back
(10:24):
to the lights as well. Atthe end of the day, I know
where you are very proud about thedisplay and the time that we put in,
be it whether it's the tree andinside your home or it's the outdoor
display, but we recommend that youturn them off either when you go to
bed at night or when you leaveyour house, say to go shopping or
(10:46):
going to a party. You're goingto be out of the house for an
extended period of time. We don'tknow what can happen with you know,
maybe the weather and other sources orsomething might occur. And again it is
not being in our home, youknow, during a period of time,
whether we're going to work or goingout at night, we recommend that you
(11:07):
turn off the lights and of courseextinguished candles as we're leaving your house.
Well, you know, I thinkis a good point to mention the fact
that smoke detectors and carbon monoxide ourdetectors are also not only during the year,
but especially during the holidays. Whythey're so important to have. Yes,
and you know, we got atime I guess with the changing of
(11:30):
the clocks looking at batteries, andyes, that's a good referral to maybe
take a look and see what youhave in your home. There are the
combination both fire and COEO detectors availablefor consumers out there. But and each
um also does have various you knowsetups. In my house, it's hardwired
(11:52):
with a battery backup, but thatalso runs the source sometimes where why is
it at two am when all ofa sudden there's some type of dust or
there might be a bug inside therethat sets off the alarms. So that
might be something that when we goto change the batteries we look at the
condition of them that maybe needs alittle bit of cleaning. It doesn't sound
(12:15):
like the most glamorous idea for aholiday gift, but if you have family
members, especially our seniors, ourparents, our grandparents, aunts and uncles
who still live in their original homes, check and see what the status is
of a you know, how manysmoke detectors do they have in their house.
(12:35):
Typically we see one in each ofthe bedrooms. As far as the
CEO detecture, we recommend they beput at least in the hallway near the
bedrooms. You might think, well, you know, I have my heater
in the basement, let me putit right next to that heater, so
if there's ever a problem it willgo off. Well that might be the
(12:56):
case, but the problem is theheaters dancers in the basement and you sleep
two floors above, so feal risesthe alarm goes off, you can't hear
that alarm going off two floors below. So what we recommend at a minimum
in the hallways near the bedrooms,if you can afford more than one one
(13:20):
on each level of the home,and they don't have to be difficult to
install. Some of them are outthere that you can simply plug them into
an outlet you know nearby if youhave a concern. The symptoms for carbon
monoxide are very similar to the fluSo I think as adults we tend not
(13:41):
to maybe act as quickly as wemight say with our kids or grandchildren when
we are taking them in a NewYork minute off to the pediatrician because of
some type of you know, ailment, and as adults we don't we will
put that off. So if youare seeing some type of illness or symptoms
(14:01):
in your home. But then youleave your home and you feel better,
you and you don't have a carbonmonoxide detector, it might be worth investing.
You can always, of course,reach out to your local fire department
if you need some education about youknow, carbon monoxide detectors and and you
know CPSC. Through our website,we have a lot of information. Let
(14:24):
me give you that to you now. It is www dot cp SC dot
gov gov. There's lots of greatinformation that talks about home heating, be
it whether it's smoke detectors, carbonmonoxide detectors, fireplaces, holidays safety,
we're talking about lights and candles andtrimmings and paper. Lots of great information
(14:48):
for consumers that you can kind ofget caught up if you aren't familiar with
our website and every recall that we'veever done we've been around over fifty years.
Every recall that we've ever done ison the website. So that's a
great source for all consumers out there, because, you know, let's safe
it, products are expensive and especiallyif say you know, maybe new baby
(15:11):
is coming, or you know youwant to have some items in your home
because there's a new grandchild along theway, or you still have the crib
that you used with your daughter andshe is now twenty eight years old?
Is that is that crib still safe? You know? What are the tips
that I need? You know,it's been twenty eight years since you had
(15:31):
an infant in the house. Nowyou're starting all over again because you want
to have you know, something availablefor you know, your family when your
grandchildren come to visit. So what'sthe condition? You know, kind of
get caught up on what is youknow, baby safety information and what can
I use? And you know,what's safe? Okay, I have something
(15:56):
that I see it's been recalled.What do I need to do it?
It's very easy to use. Givesyou specific information regarding any recalls and hell
and what as to what do Ineed to do to make sure that the
product I'm using either for my children, my grandchildren or myself is safe?
You know what? It's funny thatyou mentioned that you and I've been doing
(16:18):
a program a couple times a yearfor years and years. And what I
started doing after I investigate your siteand saw how much I mean, you
can download posters, Teachers can useit in school. There's something your recalls,
as you said, and you cansearch them in so many different ways.
But what I started doing, excuseme, is what I would give
(16:40):
a wedding or a baby shower giftwith the count with the card that we're
in it, I put your websiteand people mind. At first thought I
was a little goofy, but thenthey do anyway. But people start coming
back to me and say, ohmy gosh, thank you that I didn't
realize this or I didn't realize that. And that's why it is so important
to check out your whip because you'reup. You've got a plethora on things
(17:02):
out there that can help people.There really is a lot of information that
you know, we really hit itfrom babies straight through to seniors. I
mean when we when I talk aboutthe recalls we do, we do anywhere
from two hundred and fifty to fourhundred and fifty recalls every year. We
could be in the news almost everysingle day, and a lot of times
(17:23):
people will not recognize the name ofthe agency. But when you start begin
to talk to them about recalls,then they realize who it is and what
we're all about. And it isvery you know, I emphasize a lot
this time of year. But beinga label reader is so important. I
mean, don't scar the information thatis on product packaging. It is required
(17:45):
by very often by the consumer ProductSafety Commissions that let's just say, with
toys, there are age requirements thatthat we put out in reference to manufacturers
they are making products for children inage categories, specifically one under the age
of three. If there are smallparts in that package, we require that
(18:08):
they identify that there are small partson there and also put an age recommendation
on there that helps you know thebuyer, the parent, the grandparent,
the and or uncle who are buyingfor kids. I think that you've got
the smartest child or grandchild that wasever born. I mean, come on,
that's worse and and also too formultiple ages. My girls are two
(18:32):
and a half years apart. Theyounger one always thought she was the same
age as the older one in termsof I can play with that, you
know, and and although you maythink and maybe your two year old doesn't
put things into her mouth, youknow our caution and are we call threshold
is three and under where the smallparts is an issue. But between the
(18:55):
ages of three and five, wealso require manufacturers to identify that should there
be any small parts, even thoughwe're kind of out of that window of
under three, we you know,kind of advise that family like myself,
you know, who have a coupleof years apart, that hey, what
you're buying for the four year olddoes still contain small parts. This is
(19:15):
something that maybe the two and ahalf year old, you know, shouldn't
play with. That's where you beginto separate toy sometimes, you know,
within within the family and you getinto the art supplies, or the chemicals
or the chemistry sets and various otherthings. But in the end, be
a label reader. Pay attention tothe information that's on the product packaging.
(19:37):
Use that guide for yourself. Youcan make the adjustments. You know what
it is that you're buying, soyou buy it so they are safe,
you know, be it. Whetherit's a bike, yes, we want
to you know, give them sometime with the bike so they don't completely
grow out of it. But you'renot buying them a bike that is for
you know, a couple of yearsolder than what are because they will not
(20:00):
be safe while they're writing it.You know. One of the things that
really that's stuck in my mind.He knew, and I've discussed this before,
is the fact that the batteries andtiny batteries, if your child,
I mean, there's always a chokingissue, but if your child tends to
those little tiny batteries that are likeflat like a dime, the batteries,
(20:21):
yeah, you get them in yourc It's not only choking that can kill
a child if it gets into itintestines. Absolutely, So what you want
to kind of keep in mind hereis typically we see them. They can
be in regular products, says,such as they are remote control or even
a key fob for the keys fora car. But they also some are
(20:45):
the smaller batteries are also another typeof toys, you know, for instance,
and wear and tear and things getdislodged. And as you mentioned,
yes, of course, ingesting onebattery can is hazardous. But when you
begin to if a child ingests morethan one, they attract so they will
(21:06):
connect to each other, and yes, the damage can be very hazardous to
a child. You're talking about,you know, an operation in you know,
a medical faiure. So if youhave a concern maybe your child who
is a toddler still crawling around onthe floor, you see some type of
(21:29):
symptoms and you don't think something's notquite right, reach out to your pediattrician
and talk to them first. Don'tdismiss because we don't necessarily always realize that
maybe a child has ingested something right, So take the precaution, you know,
just in case that you think thatmaybe she did put something into her
mouth, reach out to the pediastraction, talk to them about it, talk
(21:52):
to them about symptoms. It's betterto be precautionary and talk to someone so
that you can get the proper guidance. And unless you are a parent who
has a couple pair of eyes inthe back of your head, what you
seriously, it never ends and Christmasis especially critical time to be aware of
(22:14):
these things. But also for ourpets. Yes, you know we talked.
We talked a little bit about thatas far as Candle is concerned.
But think about think about during theduring the work day, when we're at
work, you know, our kidsare at school. There's no one in
the house but maybe a couple ofpets. So let's introduce now, you
(22:36):
know, a holiday tree, andlet's introduce some evergreens. So these are
type of items that I think peoplequestion each year, what is poisonous,
what is not poisonous. My recommendationis contracts your local poison control center.
They have a complete list that cankind of go down, you know,
right with you. My mom hada cat, so we had to make
(22:57):
sure that if we bought her anything, it wasn't something that could harm the
cat. Yeah, you know,these are things that we don't really think
about. But yes, our pets, Ju spends an awful lot of time
alone, you know, in ourhouse while we were at work or at
school. That's right. The thingwhen I think, I think, when
(23:17):
I think Christmas, I think atthe tree. I think at the fun
with the family. I think atthe warm fireplace. And I also,
because of you, I think ofthose nuts out there. They're still making
their turkeys on turkey friars outside closeto the aluminum siding. Some places still
have aluminum signing. I think aboutpeople that leave their ovens on, forget
(23:41):
they have that last back of cookiesand go to bed. I mean there's
a lot to do as far ascooking and baking, things that you didn't
need to be aware of, right, Yes, so let's talk about you
know, in your home. Maybe, yes, you are you know,
bringing children invove and yet you're andintroducing making cookies and other type of items.
(24:03):
Please be careful about children in andaround an oven and a stove and
how hot that the sources can be. Making sure that no one is around
while the door oven door is open. As far as the we sort of
say like a couple feet you know, space around the oven itself to kind
of keep kids away from that area. Yes, you get outdoors and you're
(24:27):
talking about turkey fryers, we reallyrecommend that it be from the house,
the sheds, the garage, anytype of structure, it be at least
six feet away from that type ofarea. And much like we talk about
in the summertime with a grill,get all the items that you need to
(24:48):
prepare that turkey and have them assembledand at the ready there so that you
don't have to leave that area.So you're talking you know, pets and
kids. That oil. I've neverused a turkey frier, but that oil
is very hot and accidents can occur. So you have all the ingredients and
(25:08):
everything that you need right there.It can be a really fun idea and
a fun way in which to cookthe turkey. But have all the stuff
ready for you, because hey,who wants to spending the time in a
hospital emergency? That's right, youknow, there's never enough time with you,
Maryanne. But there are one ortwo things I want to touch on
(25:29):
quickly. Tell us about online shoppingwhat we should be aware of. Okay,
so we recommend that you go tocourse sources that you are most familiar
with, and also pay attention ofthat price. You know, no,
you know, maybe that great buyis not such a great buy. Any
company that wants to do business witha consumer here in the US has to
(25:52):
abide by the federal regulations from CPSC. Is when you leave this country physically
in your buying something in another country, that that is those regulations. So
let's just say a company is fromEngland, you were making a purchase.
They're selling to a consumer here inthe US. They have to abide by
(26:15):
the regulations here in the US asfar as online shopping is concerned. We
also recommend and know that CPSC islooking at other secondhand sites. They work
with the CPSC in terms of notselling recalled products, and we have employees
(26:36):
specifically we are looking at these secondhandsites to make sure that companies are not
attempting to take recall products and putthem on the secondhand market. Always buy
or beware. Pay attention to whatyou're buying. Make sure that you're not
buying things secondhand. Make sure,you know, I think maybe buying something
out of a you know, avan or in a parking lot, it
(27:00):
doesn't have all the pieces that gowith it, especially batteries. We see
a lot of times with the scootersand e bikes where there are fires associated
with these because of the batteries.When you buy these, you're not getting
the complete product, or it isa battery that is not intended for that
particular product that e bike. Solooking at you know, those types of
(27:22):
things, make sure that you're buyingthe complete set, that it is matched
what it is, and that youare using it properly. Wrapping up,
I'd like to ask you do youhave any quick recent recalls that you want
us to know about. Sure,we had a recent one came out of
Best Buy. These were pressure cookers. It's probably good idea to mention it
(27:42):
because this was just under one million. These are Insigna pressure cookers. These
were fire hazards where there can besome incorrect markings on the innerpot that can
cause it to overflow. Let methrow you or give you the inf mission.
Regarding tpsu's website, it is wwwdot CPSC dot gov. And you
(28:07):
have a hotline number two right,yes, it is one eight hundred six
three eight two seven seven two,Marianne. Nobody provides better. I'm sorry,
Darrey, you were saying no,no, that's fine. If you
call money through Friday, Okay,normal business hours, somebody will answer the
phone. It's not all hours.Leave us a message. We'll call you
back and you will trust me.You will. Nobody provides better advice and
(28:30):
resources. And and you know,Marion, it's right at your fingertips anytime
you want it. You just goon that fabulous website. To you,
thank you, thank you, andMaryanne as always have a happy and say
holiday the same to you. Thankyou. To my listeners, I very
highly recommend all the wonderful and veryuseful resources. They'll do you every single
day, as I said, throughUS Consumer Product Safety Commission website. Again,
(28:53):
it's cp SC dot gov. Also, if you want to listen inside,
it's on of our iHeart stations,or catch it any time on your
favorite podcast step I'm Sylvie Moss.This has been insight Thank you so much
for listening. To see you nextweek.
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