WASHINGTON (CN) - Drawstrings on children's tops have become entangled on playground slides, cribs and school buses and caused dragging or strangulation deaths and serious injuries when the strings are too long, or toggled or knotted on the end.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission plans to deem them a "substantial product hazard."
Drawstrings in the neck and hood areas of children's jackets and sweatshirts may strangle a child when the drawstring becomes caught in objects such as playground slides. The safety commission staff has reported it is aware of 56 incidents of neck and hood drawstring entanglements between January 1985 and September 2009. Eighteen of these entanglements were fatal.
Drawstrings at the waist or bottom of children's jackets and sweatshirts can catch in the doors or other parts of a car or schoolbus, and cause the child to be dragged when the driver drives off. The safety commission staff has reported it is aware of 27 of these entanglement incidents between January 1985 and September 2009.
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