Halloween is an exciting time of year for children. It’s their chance to dress up as fun characters, put up spooky decorations, and fill bags to the brim with sweet snacks! However, some aspects of the holiday can also pose certain hazards. Over the last decade there have been ten Halloween products that were recalled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Fire and burn risks were the most common reason for the recalls, with choking, strangulation, or button-battery ingestion also posing as risks.
KID has some Halloween safety tips:
- Choose non-toxic face paint or decorative hats as safer alternatives to masks, which can block eyesight and prevent proper ventilation. If you use face paint, test a small portion of it on your child’s skin a few days prior so no irritation occurs on Halloween night.
- Select the correct size costume (to prevent trips and falls), and for young children, choose costumes that don’t contain small parts, which can pose as a choking hazard.
- Choose costumes that are made with “flame-resistant” or “flame-retardant” materials as well as ones without long loose sleeves or fabrics. This can help prevent the material catching fire while passing a lit jack-o-lantern or candle.
- Children should wear reflective material on the front and back of costumes and accompanying adults should carry flashlights in order to see and be seen by drivers. Traffic injuries increase on Halloween, with children being four times more likely to be fatally injured as a pedestrian by a car on Halloween night than on any other night.
KID advises all parents go to cpsc.gov and SaferProducts.gov to check for recalled and reported products before buying new Halloween items or using products saved from previous years. More information about Halloween recalls and tips can be found in our 2018 report, Safety Scare! Halloween Product Recalls, Reports, and Injuries .
Have a happy and safe Halloween!
