Man, my browser tabs are ready to *POP* with all kinds of research and recalls ready to freak. you out:
- The next time you have to pay for your own C-section, go ahead and treat yourself. A news study shows anesthesia does not cause brain damage to babies born by C-section. "This is reassuring," understated a well-insured guy from the Mayo Clinic. [nyt]
- But don't celebrate too hard. Turns out alcohol use during pregnancy, low birth weight, and C-sections are all linked to "poor sleep in children." [sciencedaily]
- Not that it's better to drink water. The reason the CDC was so sure no kids were exposed to lead in their Washington DC drinking water? Their rigorously gathered, incontrovertible data. Oh, did I say rigorously gathered and incontrovertible? I meant "wildly incomplete" and off by more than 2.5x. [washpost]
- "Novice Parents Overlook Many Child-injury Risks," just 47%. They also think their own kid is super-safe. But they do a lot better than daycare and health professionals, which is scary. Must be "the number of hours each week spent reading parenting magazines." Oy. [sciencedaily]
- A 33-page statistical analysis from Oxford titled, "Division of Household Labor and Cross-Country Differences in Household Formation Rates," has determined that "Australian men make the worst husbands in the world because they loathe helping out with the housework." [abc.net.au; full paper at repec.org; slightly more comprehensible summary at sciencedaily]
- Don't you hate it when the article says that "A class of insecticides called carbamates, as well as the nerve gas sarin, work in the same way, only the effects are stronger and last much longer." to explain how your deet insect repellent is neurotoxic? Apparently, it's also just like Gulf War Syndrome. Come on outside; burgers are ready! [afp/google; oddly truncated press release at sciencedaily; abstract at open-access bmc biol]
- You know what else goes straight in your kid's mouth and turns out to be toxic? The bacteria growing inside that chillin' gel inside Nuby, Cottontail, and Playschool teethers. The FDA announced a recall a couple of weeks ago. Why is there no mention on the CPSC site? [fda.gov via dt reader/insurance reporter sarah]
Other Recall Freakouts:
- Dorel subsidiary Safety 1st recalled another 31,000 SmartLight stair gates, bringing the total to 131,000. The hinges fail. The gates were sold between 2005 and last week. [cpsc.gov]
- Graco is recalling 2,400 Jump 'n Jive doorway bouncers sold between April and July because the velcro strap on the two included toys might come off. "Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled product [for the ten seconds it takes to] remove and discard the detachable toys and the attaching fabric strips." [cpsc.gov]
- Target is recalling 43,000 Circo booster seats [$13] sold between Dec. 2008 and June 2009 because the buckles can open unexpectedly. No duh, they look like pieces of crap. Why not just swipe one from Denny's instead? [cpsc.gov]
I thought that basically all the doorway jumpers were off the market? Isn't there supposed to be a thriving black market in these things. like raw mike and high-flow toilets?
The Nuby recall was coordinated by the FDA, not the CPSC - teethers are considered medical devices (alleviate pain due to teething). We posted some pics of the recalled teethers here - my biggest frustration about this recall was how little information came with it. All parents had to go on was UPC codes. I think it's because what the company really wanted was to get product back from retailers so they could irradiate it. UPC codes make zero sense for consumers (they're only on the packaging).
It's amazing, for all the grief the CPSC gets, at least its recall notices are actually somewhat actionable. That was the first thing I noticed on the FDA's recall notice--once I found it, which wasn't clear/easy from the fda.gov site--was how little info it included, and no photos.