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Amazon, Walmart and Wayfair are among the retailers that continue to sell older dressers at risk of tipping over — a particular concern for U.S. households with little kids, according to findings released this week by Consumer Reports.
A year after the implementation of new furniture safety standards, tests by the consumer advocacy group have found that newly built dressers are meeting the stability requirements. However, out of 12 dressers tested, two that were built before September 2023 failed, according to Consumer Reports, while the 10 newer ones manufactured under the new standards passed.
The tests replicated a child pulling out drawers and climbing or hanging from them. According to the federal Sturdy Act, unanchored dressers should remain upright for at least 10 seconds with a 60-pound weight hanging from an open, top drawer.
The new rule applies only to dressers built after Sept. 1, 2023, and allows manufacturers to continue selling older ones, a loophole that has caused consternation among one parent and advocate.
“They could have followed the spirit of the law, and not just the letter of the law, and taken all their old crap off the shelves,” Crystal Ellis, whose 2-year-old son, Camden, died after a tip-over incident in 2014, told Consumer Reports.
Major retailers continue to sell dressers that may not meet the new standard or pass tip-over tests, and product listings and labels often don’t make clear when the furniture was made, making it hard for people to know if it complies with the updated rule.
“In the interest of child safety and to end the uncertainty in the marketplace, Consumer Reports calls on all retailers and online platforms to commit to a public timeline by which they will sell only those dressers that pass the new, rigorous tip-over tests,” said Gabe Knight, safety policy analyst at Consumer Reports.
Ikea in April announced that its chests and dressers sold in the United States would meet the new mandatory standards established by the law, which passed in 2022 and took effect in September the following year.
Clothing storage unit tip-overs killed 234 people from January 2000 through April 2022, including 199 children, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. It estimated 5,300 injuries involving trips to emergency rooms each year from dressers tipping over. The agency advises that furniture, including dressers, be anchored to a wall.
The federal agency and Dania Furniture of Boise, Idaho, in June announced the recall of the Hayden Bookcase after an incident in which an unanchored bookcase fell over, resulting in the death of a 4-year-old.
Earlier in the year, millions of plastic furniture anti-tip restraint kits were recalled because the product’s zip ties were subject to becoming brittle and breaking, CPSC said.
Amazon. Wayfair and Walmart all sidestepped the question of whether they would commit to selling only dressers that meet the new stability standards.
“We require all dressers offered in our store to comply with applicable laws, regulations and Amazon policies,” an Amazon spokesperson told CBS MoneyWatch.
“We are proud supporters of the Sturdy Act and are fully compliant with its regulations — furthermore, we expect all items sold on our platform are safe, and strongly advise that all dressers and clothing storage units are anchored,” the retailer stated.
A Walmart spokesperson stated that the retailer requires all covered product manufactured after Sept. 1, 2023, to meet the updated standard outlined in the Sturdy Act.
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