KID released a new report, Recall Radar: Nursery Product Recalls in 2023 Highest in Over a Decade, analyzing children’s products recalls in 2023. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recalled 26 nursery products, the highest in over a decade. Eleven of these recalls and 20 additional warnings were due to suffocation hazards because the products violated various federal safety regulations for infant sleep products that recently went into effect.

The CPSC recalled a water bead product for the first time since 2013, after an infant death was reported. Often sold as toys, in craft kits, or marketed as sensory tools for children, water beads are small, water-absorbing, colorful balls of super absorbent polymer and can grow up to 100 times their original size when exposed to water or ingested.

KID’s report last year found that zero children’s product recalls were translated to Spanish and KID called on  the agency to translate recall press releases to alert the U.S.’s Spanish-speaking population to recalled products. The CPSC has started to translate recall press releases into Spanish. In 2023, 64% of children’s products recalls were translated into Spanish. This is a step in the right direction for the agency.

Additional findings of the report include:

  • The CPSC released 35 warnings regarding children’s products or adult products that could hurt children in 2023, much higher than in 2022 (five warnings). Of these warnings, 20 were for infant sleep products that were recalled due to violating standards, 12 for small powerful magnet products, two for outdoor and sports products, and one for a chemical product that failed to meet child-resistant packaging requirements.
  • The report found that there were six deaths reported before a product was recalled. Three deaths were due to choking hazards (two toys and one candy), one was due to ingestion hazards from a water beads product, and two were due to fire hazards from a lithium-ion battery in a scooter/hoverboard product.
  • Social media usage by the CPSC and recalling companies to alert consumers about recalled products remained low. The CPSC posted 44% of children’s product recalls on Facebook and 45% on Twitter. However, the CPSC has increased its Instagram use from 34% to 46%.

The CPSC should continue to issue unilateral notifications to consumers about a hazardous product when the company does not agree to a recall, and make every effort to get dangerous products recalled. Recalling companies must use all tools at their disposal to retrieve recalled products. Online platforms should strengthen efforts to ensure all products sold on their sites are safe, meet any required standards and adequately warn consumers about product hazards.

KID recommends that policymakers should:

  • Ban the sale of water beads marketed to children, and the CPSC should recall those involved in injuries and deaths,
  • Implement a strong mandatory safety standard governing lithium-ion batteries in micro-mobility products, and
  • Provide adequate funding for the CPSC to fulfill its mission.

Parents and caregivers should report product incidents to the CPSC at SaferProducts.gov and subscribe to KID’s newsletter to receive a monthly recall digest at www.kidsindanger.org. Read the full report here.