The Consumer Product Safety Commission, in conjunction with Carter's, issued an advisory regarding Carter's tagless onesies. The CPSC advisory can be found here, and I have reproduced it below.
This is a huge victory for parents whose children have suffered chemical burns from the large heat-transferred tags from some of Carter's onesies. This advisory came about because of the parents who contacted the CPSC, filed reports online, and blogged about their experiences.
However, the only acceptable solution at this point is a recall. Carter's claims that 400 reports have been filed about rashes and burns resulting from the heat-transferred tags on their Fall 2007 line. I firmly believe the number vastly underestimates the number of infants affected; the CPSC's complaint site is difficult to find (see below) and, as Ava's mom has pointed out in her blog, not every mother has the time for a long conversation with a Carter's customer service rep. I also believe many parents will not realize until they see this advisory what, exactly, has been causing their childrens' rashes or other injuries. Expect to hear about many, many more cases in the near future.
In addition to Ava's blog, I received a comment from a mother whose son also suffered a serious reaction to a Carter's onesie. The following entry on her blog contains photo of her son's back. And pictured here is a Minnesota infant who was affected by Carter's tagless onesies. 
The one useful element of the advisory, besides its release to the public, is that it isolates at least one of the lines that is affecting infants: Fall 2007. You will recognize these onesies by the overly large heat-transferred "tag", which is mainly solid rather than stenciled. If my theory is correct, that the larger, solid tag contains a higher percentage of phthalates, then you should avoid any heat-transferred "tags" that are solid instead of stenciled, huge instead of small. In fact, Ava's mother says, and based on some e-mails I've received I agree with her, that this problem is not limited to the Carter's Fall 2007 line (and perhaps not even to the Carter's line at all).
For now, my advice is for parents to avoid tagless onesies or shirts that have a heat-transferred label that contains a lot of ink. Try for onesies that have one or two lines. Once you start getting into the paragraph-length script about origin, washing instructions, component ingredients, etc., then we're talking about more of the chemical (I believe it is phthalates) coming in contact with your infant's skin. Ideally, we'll all use "tagged" onesies until the industry ceases to use phthalate-containing ink.
For an extremely useful overview of this situation, please visit Z Recommends, which filed a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain records of parent complaints to the CPSC and plans to post analysis this coming week.
In the meantime, please read my posting regarding the letter CEO Michael Casey sent to Ava's mom--there you will find contact information for Carter's and a way to report an incident to the CPSC. An advisory is a good start, but a recall and the elimination of phthalates in these kind of tags is the only way Carter's will win back customers it has lost, not to mention those tens of thousands of people who are scouring the web right this minute for "Carter's tagless onesies rash."
Below please find the text of the CPSC advisory.
News from CPSC
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 24, 2008
Release #09-023 Firm’s Hotline: (888) 282-4674
CPSC Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908
CPSC and Carter’s Advise Parents of Rashes Associated with Heat Transferred, or “Tag-less,” Labels
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Carter’s, Inc., of Atlanta, Georgia, are advising parents and caregivers that they have received reports that a small percentage of babies and infants have developed rashes on the upper back after wearing Carter’s clothing with heat-transferred, or “tag-less,” labels.
This advisory applies to Carter’s Fall 2007 product line. The Fall 2007 line utilizes a label on the inside back of the garment that has a raised surface with a solid, rather than a stenciled, background. This advisory does not apply to previous and current product lines, which utilize labels with stenciled backgrounds.
The garments, which were made in various countries, were sold at Carter’s own retail stores and at department and national chain stores.
If your child develops a rash on the upper back after wearing garments that have a “tag-less” label with a solid background, you should stop using these garments. If the rash persists or worsens, you should contact your pediatrician. For additional information, visit Carter’s website at http://www.carters.com/corporate/tagless_message.aspx, contact Carter’s toll free at 1-888-282-4674 or by email at contactus@carters.com
1 comments:
These labels do not contain Phthalates, as Carters has checked for this from the beggining of their tagless program as part of a supplier approval system. However, there is a chance that a small Asian supplier used a solvent based transfer, and did not cure out all the solvents. This will indeed cause a skin irritation.
Post a Comment