Consumer Product Safety Commision: Injury Data Insufficient to Assess the Effect211 of the Changes to the Children's Sleepwear Safety Standard

摘要

In the late 1960s and early 1970, reports of children being severely burned when211u001etheir nightgowns or pajamas caught fire caused concern over the safety of 211u001echildren's sleepwear. As a result, in 1972 the federal government implemented a 211u001esafety standard that required children's sleepwear to be flame-resistant. In 211u001e1996, the consumer product safety commission (CPSC) amended this standard to 211u001eexempt 'snug-fitting' sleepwear and sleepwear for children 9 months old or 211u001eyounger. Although some industry and consumer advocates applauded this decision, 211u001eothers (including some fire prevention groups) expressed concern that the 1996 211u001echanges could lead to an increase in the number of children injured. The fiscal 211u001eyear 1999 Appropriations Act covering CPSC and its accompanying conference report 211u001edirected us to review the data available on burn injuries to children and to 211u001ediscuss the implications of these data for the effect of the recent amendments to 211u001ethe sleepwear standard. Specifically, this report addresses the following 211u001equestions: (1) how many burn injuries involving children's sleepwear occurred 211u001eannually before and after the amendments; and (2) what conclusions, if any, can 211u001ebe drawn from these data about the effect of the changes to the sleepwear 211u001estandard on the risk of injury.