Wednesday, February 17, 2010

RECALLS

NEWS from CPSC
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Office of Information and Public Affairs
Washington, DC 20207

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 17, 2010
Release # 10-139

Firm's Recall Hotline: (866) 695-3551
CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908

Allreds Design Recalls Baby Bracelets and Pacifier Clips Due to Risk of Lead Exposure

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Allreds Design Baby Bracelets and Pacifier Clips

Units: About 900

Manufacturer: Allreds Design (doing business as Hidden Hollow Beads), of Fort Duchesne, Utah

Hazard: The recalled bracelets and pacifier clip clasps contain high levels of lead. Lead is toxic if ingested by young children and can cause adverse health effects.

Incidents/Injuries: Allreds Design received one report of a 10-month-old child who was treated by a physician for elevated lead levels.

Description: This recall includes Allreds Design brand baby bracelets and pacifier clips. The bracelets are sold in sizes 0-6 months, 1-4 years, and 4-8 years of age. The baby bracelets and pacifier clips have crystal and plastic beads in various colors with a metal clasp.

Sold by: Resale stores and other consignment retailers nationwide from June 2008 through December 2008 for about $5.

Manufactured in: United States

Remedy: Consumers should immediately take these recalled bracelets and pacifier clips away from children and contact Allreds Design for instructions on how to receive a replacement bracelet or pacifier clip.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, please contact Allreds Design toll-free at (866) 695-3551 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.

Note: Hidden Hollow Beads was alerted to this hazard by Jefferson County's Health Department in Missouri.

To see this recall on CPSC's web site, including pictures of the recalled products, please go to:
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10139.html

***********************************************

CPSC Public Calendar

Vol. XXXVII No. 19
February 17, 2010

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Bethesda, Maryland 20814

Commission Agendas

Listed below is an agenda of a Commission Meeting scheduled for the week of February 22, 2010. For a recorded message concerning the latest agenda information call (301) 504-7948.

Commission Meeting
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
2:00-4:00 p.m.
Hearing Room 420

Closed to the Public

Matter to be Discussed

Compliance Weekly / Monthly Report - Commission Briefing

The staff will brief the Commission on various compliance matters.

Meetings Between Commission Staff and Outside Parties

All meetings listed below are open to the public unless otherwise stated. For information on a specific meeting or to attend a meeting, please call the contact person listed for that meeting.

Abbreviations: we use asterisks (*) to identify meetings for the current week which have not appeared before in the printed Public Calendar. If the meeting involves discussion of a "substantial interest matter," defined by CPSC's Meetings Policy, we show the date when we posted notice of the meeting on the Master Calendar. The Master Calendar is in the Office of the Secretary, Room 502, telephone (301) 504-7923. We indicate whether a meeting is of substantial interest by the symbol (S); we use the symbol (N) to indicate non-substantial interest meetings. The Commission offices are located in the Bethesda Towers Building, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, Maryland.

Under the Meetings Policy, a staff person holding or attending a substantial interest meeting must file a log of the meeting with the Office of the Secretary within 20 days.

Week of February 22 thru February 28, 2010

Tuesday, February 23

Commissioner Robert Adler and Jason Levine (Special Assistant to Commissioner Adler) and Chairman Inez M. Tenenbaum and Matt Howsare (Special (Legal) Assistant to Chairman Tenenbaum) meeting with Andy Counts, Exec. VP; Bill Perdue, VP-Product Standards & Sustainable Growth, American Home Furnishings Alliance (AHFA); and Mary Martha McNamara, Counsel to AHFA, to discuss furniture issues in consumer product safety; 10:00 a.m., Bethesda Towers, room 723. The meeting was requested by Mary Martha McNamara. For additional information contact Ophelia McCardell, (301) 504-7731. Transmitted to the Office of the Secretary 1/28/10. Posted on the Master Calendar 1/28/10. (S)

Tuesday, February 23

*Commissioner Nancy Nord and staff meeting with Andy Counts, Exec. VP; Bill Perdue, VP-Product Standards & Sustainable Growth, American Home Furnishings Alliance (AHFA); and Mary Martha McNamara, Counsel to AHFA, to discuss furniture issues in consumer product safety; 11:00 a.m., Bethesda Towers, room 722. The meeting was requested by Mary Martha McNamara. For additional information contact Autumn Moore, (301) 504-7901, amoore@cpsc.gov. Transmitted to the Office of the Secretary 2/16/10. Posted on Master Calendar 2/16/10. (S)

Tuesday, February 23

*Commissioner Anne Northup meeting with Andy Counts, CEO of American Home Furnishings Alliance and Bill Perdue, Director of Environmental and Technical Visits to discuss furniture tip-overs, bunk bed and upholstery issues; 12:00 noon, Bethesda Towers, room 720. The meeting was requested by Mary Martha McNamara. For additional information contact Catherine Gatewood, (301) 504-7780. Transmitted to the Office of the Secretary 2/16/10. Posted on Master Calendar 2/16/10. (S)

Tuesday, February 23

Commissioner Thomas H. Moore; Pam Weller and Michael Gougisha (Counselors to Commissioner Moore) meeting with Andy Counts and Bill Perdue with the American Home Furnishings Alliance; Mary Martha McNamara, Esq. with McNamara & L'Heureux, P.C. to discuss furniture issues in consumer product safety; 3:00 p.m., Bethesda Towers, room 725. The meeting was requested by Laura S. Genuario. For additional information contact Linda Taylor, (301) 504-7895 or ltaylor@cpsc.gov. Transmitted to the Office of the Secretary 1/27/10. Posted on the Master Calendar 1/27/10. (S)

Wednesday, February 24

*Allyson Tenney, Directorate for Engineering Sciences, attending ASTM F15.45, Candle Products Fire Safety Task Group meeting; Airport Courtyard by Marriott, Columbus, OH. For additional information contact Allyson Tenney, (301) 504-7567. Transmitted to the Office of the Secretary 2/16/10. Posted on Master Calendar 2/16/10. (S)

Wednesday, February 24

*Jake Miller and Patty Edwards, Directorate for Engineering Sciences (Mechanical), meeting with Gene Barrow, Bassett Furniture, to discuss manufacturing process of children's furniture specifically wood cribs; 1:00 p.m., 3525 Fairystone Park Hwy., Bassett, VA 24055. The meeting was requested by CPSC staff. For additional information contact Jake Miller, (301) 504-6938. Transmitted to the Office of the Secretary 2/16/10. Posted on Master Calendar 2/16/10. (N)

Thursday, February 25

*Jake Miller and Patty Edwards, Directorate for Engineering Sciences (Mechanical), meeting with Carlton Craig and Kevin Walker, Stanley Furniture, to discuss manufacturing process of children's furniture specifically wood cribs, including a courtesy plant tour; 8:00 a.m., 1641 Fairystone Park Hwy., Stanleytown, VA 24168. The meeting was requested by CPSC staff. For additional information contact Jake Miller, (301) 504-6938. Transmitted to the Office of the Secretary 2/16/10. Posted on Master Calendar 2/16/10. (N)

Thursday, February 25

Thomas Caton, Directorate for Engineering Sciences (Mechanical) giving presentation on "Metallurgy and Dissimilar Metals" at the Pennsylvania Amusement Ride Safety Seminar meeting; 11:00 a.m., Holiday Inn Harrisburg/Hershey - Grantville, PA. The meeting was requested by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture - Bureau of Ride and Measurement Standards. For additional information contact Thomas Caton, (301) 504-7543. Transmitted to the Office of the Secretary 2/12/10. Posted on Master Calendar 2/12/10. (N)

Future

Tuesday, March 2

Richard O'Brien, Laurie Hopkins, and Sylvia Chen, Office of International Programs, meeting with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) representatives: Gary Kushnier, Vice President - International Policy, Scott Cooper, Vice President - Government Relations, Elise Owen, Director - International Development, Jessica Hychalk, Program Manager - International Policy, Leslie McDermott, Program Administrator - International Development, to discuss ANSI activities in China; 3:00 p.m., Bethesda Towers, room 410A. The meeting was requested by ANSI. For additional information contact Richard O'Brien, (301) 504-7054. Transmitted to the Office of the Secretary 2/12/10. Posted on Master Calendar 2/12/10. (N)

Tuesday, March 23

Michael A. Babich, Directorate for Health Sciences, and other CPSC staff meeting with representatives from ExxonMobil, on Cumulative Risk Assessment of Phthalates; 10:00 a.m., Bethesda Towers, room 410 B/C. The meeting was requested by ExxonMobil. For additional information contact Michael Babich, (301) 504-7253. Transmitted to the Office of the Secretary 1/25/10. Posted on Master Calendar 1/26/10. (S)

Addendum

Meeting notices printed in this section did not reach the Office of the Secretary in time to meet the Tuesday noon deadline for the previously printed Public Calendar. Under the CPSC Meetings Policy, however, staff persons, including Commissioners, can meet the seven-day notice requirement by placing notice of the meeting on the Master Calendar at least seven days before the meeting. The Master Calendar is in the Office of the Secretary, Room 502, Bethesda Towers Building.

In addition, the policy allows the Office of General Counsel to waive the seven-day notice requirements of meetings of the staff personnel, and individual Commissioners can waive the requirements for themselves and their personal staff.

Thursday, February 18

Commissioners Nancy Nord and Anne Northup and staff will meet with Satbir Nayar, Project Manager, XOS, Inc. and Berry Buemer, Vice President of Marketing and Sales of XOS, Inc., and Quin Dodd, Of Counsel, Mintz Levin, PC, XOS, to provide the latest information about the HD XRF technology and the status of the ASTM voluntary committee process to finalize a uniform test method for the use of HD XRF to detect lead in paint; 11:00 a.m., Bethesda Towers, room 722. For additional information contact Autumn Moore, (301) 504- 7901, amoore@cpsc.gov. Transmitted to the Office of the Secretary 2/16/10. Posted on Master Calendar 2/16/10. (S)

Thursday, February 18

Commissioner Robert S. Adler meeting with Satbir Nayar and Berry Buemer of X-Ray Optical Systems, Inc. (XOS), and Quin Dodd, counsel to XOS, to discuss latest information on validation of HD XRF technology and the status of ASTM's Volunteer Committee to finalize a uniform test method for the use of HD XRF to detect lead in paint; 10:00 a.m., Bethesda Towers, room 723. The meeting was requested by Quin Dodd. For additional information contact Ophelia McCardell, (301) 504-7731. Transmitted to the Office of the Secretary 2/16/10. Posted on Master Calendar 2/17/10. (S)

Friday, February 19

Andrew Trotta and Shivani Mehta, Directorate for Engineering Sciences, attending the Kitchen Fire Prevention Technologies Workshop; 8:30 a.m., (registration starts at 8:00 a.m.) Montpelier Room at the Madison Loews Hotel, 1177 15th Street, NW, Washington D.C. The workshop is being sponsored by Vision 20/20. For additional information contact Andrew Trotta, (301) 504-7578. Transmitted to the Office of the Secretary 2/12/10. Posted on Master Calendar 2/12/10. (S)

********************************************************

'CPSC 2.0' Launches Product Safety Agency into Social Media -- Learn more at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09346.html

* Visit our new blog, OnSafety at www.cpsc.gov/onsafety

* See our videos on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/uscpsc

* Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/OnSafety

* See our photos on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/uscpsc

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from thousands of types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. The CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals - contributed significantly to the decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.

To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC's Hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC's teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270. To join a CPSC e-mail subscription list, please go to https://www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx. Consumers can obtain recall and general safety information by logging on to CPSC's Web site at www.cpsc.gov.

I am the mom of 4 wonderful kids, 3 boys and 1 girl. Looking at them, you know I have had many years working with and enriching the lives of children. I have an Associates (Magna Cum Laude) in Business Management, and a Bachelors in Early childhood Development and Education with a concentration in Child Psychology. I have almost 20 years in the Early Childhood field, and loving every minute of it! You can visit my site here

The Ultimate Pancakes

This week is National Pancake Week! What better way to celebrate then with a fresh, homemade plateful?!

You'll need...

3/4 cup milk

2 tablespoons white or cider vinegar

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons butter, melted

cooking spray

pats of butter

To make...

Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to "sour".

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk egg, vanilla and butter into "soured" milk. Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until most of the lumps are gone-- the mixture will be foamy at this point. Let mixture sit for 20 minutes to thicken.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Add a small bit of butter for flavor. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.

Serve with syrup and/or honey-butter!

ENJOY!

4 servings-- Nutritonal values:
Calories: 230| Total Fat: 8.2g | Cholesterol: 72mg

Wordless Wednesday

Brain Growth and Development in Preschool

A peek at the early stages of brain development and how early childhood education encourages brain growth, memory and language development in babies and young preschool children.
At birth, a baby's brain already has 100,000,000,000 cells. This is about the same number of stars in the Milky Way. Unlike the rest of a new baby's body, the brain is not complete at birth. In order to start working, the cells need to communicate with each other. As a baby starts to experience life, connections are made between cells - the more connections there are, the more the brain can do.
A baby's brain develops so fast that by age two a child who is developing normally has the same number of connection as an adult. By age three, a child has TWICE as many brain connections as an adult.
Early milestones in brain growth.
4 months: The infant's brain responds to every sound produced in all the languages of the world.
8 to 9 months: Babies can form specific memories from their experiences, such as how to push a ball to make it roll.
10 months: Babies can now distinguish and even produce the sounds of their own language (such as "da-da") and no longer pay attention to the sounds of language that are foreign.
12 months: Babies whose parents say, for example, "Lookeee at the doggiee," will go to the appropriate picture of a dog in a picture book more often than those babies who are talked to in normal, flatter voices.
12 to 18 months: Babies can keep in memory something that has been hidden and find it again, even if it has been completely covered up. They can also hold memory sequences of simple activities, such as winding up a Jack-in-the-box until the figure pops up.
24 months: Preschool children now have clear pictures in mind of people who are dear to them, and they get upset when separated from these people (even their peers).
30 months: Preschool children can hold in mind a whole sequence of spatial maps and know where things are in their environment.
36 months: A preschool child can now hold two different emotions in his mind at the same time, such as being sad that he spilled ice cream on his clothes but glad that he's at a birthday party.

How Preschool Education Helps

Brain Development**

Morning GreetingWhenever an adult speaks directly and personally to a preschool child, cascades of impulses go through the child's neurons (nerve cells), which are connected to one another by synapses. The repetition of these kinds of positive early interactions actually helps the brain reinforce the existing connections and make new ones.
FingerplayBy a couple of months of age, babies can process the emotional contours of language (prosody), which means they tune in to the emotional variations in your voice. (In fact, toddlers can memorize nursery rhymes because rhymes have prosody!) As the preschool teacher raises her voice an octave and draws out her vowels, the child's brain responds by sending even more chemical and electrical impulses across the synapses.
Story timeEarly childhood teachers are careful to have small groups for story time so that preschool children are able to get involved and process information. Young children need real interactions in order to learn. As she reads, the teacher will use melodic voice tones to ensure children's involvement and learning.
Free play / Work timeDuring free play, preschool children interact with one another. As they communicate, whether through beginning language or more sophisticated use of words, the neurons in their brains are making more connections, critical for reinforcing learning.
Snack Further opportunities for communication lead to the repetition of impulses sent through the brain. The more repetition that goes on, the more the brain grows sure in its understanding. Repetition of language sounds is crucial to brain development.
Circle timeAs the early childhood caregiver focuses her attention on each individual child in the large group activity, the child must think about the topic for the day. The child's brain will be active as he/she retrieves from memory something special in her own personal history that she has learned. Each day children reap the benefits of preschool education.