WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- The Consumer Product Safety Commission Tuesday voted to require child-resistant packaging for some common household products and cosmetics containing hydrocarbons.
The CPSC said the new rules will help prevent injuries to children.
Among the products included by the new regulations are some baby oils; sunscreens; nail enamel dryers; hair oils; bath, body and massage oils; makeup removers' some automotive chemicals including gasoline additives, fuel injection cleaners and carburetor cleaners; cleaning solvents like wood oil cleaners, metal cleaners, spot removers and adhesive removers; some water repellants containing mineral spirits used for decks, shoes and sports equipment; general use household oil, and gun-cleaning solvents containing kerosene.
The rules cover any products that contain 10 percent or more hydrocarbons by weight and have a low viscosity. Thicker products are less likely to be aspirated.
"We know that child-resistant packaging save lives," CPSC Chairman Ann Brown said. "But since the packaging is child-resistant, not child-proof, parents also need to keep baby oil and other potentially poisonous substances locked up out of reach of young children."
The CPSC said since 1993, five children under 5 have died because they aspirate hydrocarbon products, the most recent occurring in May in Bakersfield, Calif., when 16-month-old Jaiden Bryson inhaled baby oil.
Between 1997 and 1999, there were 6,400 emergency room visits involving young children who ingested household chemicals containing hydrocarbons, the CPSC said. Between 1993 and 1999, American Association of Poison Control Centers statistics indicate there were 11,115 potential aspiration exposures to cosmetic and household products containing hydrocarbons.
The new rules will take effect in 12 months.
