Product Safety Update from Capitol Hill (Part Three)

Earlier this year, we began a series of blog entries to update our readers on legislative efforts on Capitol Hill that affect stakeholders within the product safety arena. Over the summer, we updated you on an amendment to an appropriations bill passed in the House of Representatives that would halt the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) ongoing work on finalizing a rule on voluntary recalls. Since the summer, three additional pieces of legislation have been introduced on the Hill pertaining to product safety, which deserve our attention.

First, earlier this month, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) introduced the "Children and Firefighters Protections Act of 2014" (S. 2811) to ban 10 flame retardants from upholstered furniture and children's products such as changing table pads, portable crib mattresses, pajamas, nap mats and nursing pillows. According to Sen. Schumer and a host of advocates, these flame retardants are highly toxic and can cause cancer and