Learn about a hazardous product

Unfortunately, many products that are sold in the United States (and in other countries too of course) can be dangerous to both adults and children. Sometimes, they're inherently dangerous. That means that by their very nature they're dangerous. For example, guns, knifes, electrical saws, gas stoves, and cigarettes are dangerous or potentially harmful at all times and you must be careful how you use them and where you keep them.

Some products are dangerous if you use them in the wrong way. For example, the Purell sanitizer lotion in the classroom is a product that is meant to kill germs, but if it swallowed by a child in even small amounts it can be very dangerous since it contains about 62% alchohol! (See http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/sanitizer.asp for more information about this)

Other products are dangerous because of the way they were made or some part of them is dangerous. A toy, for example, can have a small piece that a child can swallow and choke on. One government agency that helps warn the public about dangerous products is the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission can also tell manufacturers that they need to recall a dangerous product. When a manufacturer recalls a product, they stop selling that product and they tell everyone who ever purchased it to return it to the store and get there money back, or they give them instructions on how to get the product fixed. Read about one product that was just recalled this week at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07237.html and answer the questions below. Send Mr. Bakin your answers in an email message or as a document on your USB flash drive.

What is the product that is being recalled?
What is the part of the product that is dangerous?
What can happen to the product?
Has anybody been hurt by this product?
What should you do if you bought this product?
Define these words (Tell me what they mean): counterfeit, overheat, rupture.

Find more products that have been recalled because they are dangerous at the Consumer Product Safety Commission website by clicking on the "Recalls and Product Safety News" link.

Click on these links to read more information about a very dangerous crib (bed for children) and a very dangerous popular toy.