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The Public Health Challenge of Consumer Non-Compliance to Toy Product Recalls and Proposed Solutions
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

The Public Health Challenge of Consumer Non-Compliance to Toy Product Recalls and Proposed Solutions

Xiayang Yu and David C Schwebel
International journal of environmental research and public health, Vol.15(3), p.540
03/17/2018
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph15030540
PMCID: PMC5877085
PMID: 29562602
url
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15030540View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

This paper addresses the public health issue of toy product recalls in the United States, an under-addressed topic in scholarly literature, yet highly relevant to the prevention of pediatric injuries. Toy-related injuries led to 274,000 emergency room visits and seven fatalities in 2016 in the United States, and toy-related injury rates have remained stable over the last five years despite declining incidences of recalls. While dangerous toys not being recalled and the misuse of "safe" products are possible contributing factors, consumer non-response to recall notices also contributes to unintentional child injury from dangerous toys. We discuss the process of recalling toys, and the role of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in that process. We also review potential factors behind significant consumer non-response to recall notifications, citing economic and psychological theories as explanations for the actions of multiple stakeholders in the recall process. We close by proposing reforms at the regulatory, consumer, and retailer levels that might boost compliance with recall notifications and ultimately reduce injury morbidity and mortality.
 Consumer Behavior Humans Incidence Play and Playthings Product Recalls and Withdrawals Public Health United States

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