500 million window blinds recalled

WASHINGTON (AP) - In its largest-ever product recall, the government says some 500 million horizontal window blinds sold over the last decade need their cords repaired because 130 babies and young children have been strangled since 1991. It is the second such recall in the last five years.

Children can turn the pull cords - as well as the inner cords that adjust the slats - into nooses around their necks, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and an industry group, Window Covering Safety Council, said Wednesday. About 55 million horizontal blinds are sold each year.

''It's a horrible hidden hazard that even the best parent would never think of,'' Ann Brown, the safety commission's chairwoman, said in an interview. ''It's a silent death - the children can't call out - and the parent comes in and finds their child hanging from the blind.''

The agency first addressed the problem in 1995 by issuing a similar recall, providing repair kits to consumers and getting the blinds industry to redesign its products. While blinds sold since no longer have pull cords ending in loops, those recalled models may still be in people's homes.

Last year, another investigation found the inner cords that adjust the slats could also endanger children.

Of the 130 deaths reported, the inner cords contributed to the strangulation of 16 children, all of whom were 9 to 17 months old and in cribs placed next to windows. In most cases, the outer pull cords that raise and lower the blinds were placed out of reach, but the children pulled the inner cords into loops and strangled.

The agency launched the investigation after 16-month-old Hannah Beller of Ashburn, Va., died in a rented vacation cottage in August 1998. Her parents, Eric and Elizabeth Beller, had placed her crib in a room they had checked for safety, even making sure the pull cords from a nearby window blind were out of reach, said Mrs. Beller.

''The only thing she would have been able to reach from the crib were the bottom two slats,'' she said. ''We found her strangled from the inside cord, which she must have reached by reaching her tiny fingers through the closed blinds.''

The window coverings industry recently redesigned its products again to remove the inner cord danger. New blinds sold since September have the improvement and older ones still on store shelves have warning labels advising repair, said Peter Rush, head of the Window Covering Safety Council.

Rush said consumers can visit the council's Web site at http://www.windowcoverings.org to learn how to check blinds for safety.

The safety commission advises owners of blinds to call the council toll-free at 1-800-506-4636 to request a free repair kit for each set of blinds. The kits include small plastic attachments to prevent the inner cords from being pulled loose and safety tassels for pre-1995 blinds with looped pull cords.

The repairs take minutes and don't require taking down the blinds.

The kits also include special tie-downs to secure other window coverings that pose a lesser but still significant danger such as vertical blinds, draperies or pleated shades with continuous loop cords.

The commission said parents should consider buying cordless models or keep window covering cords and chains out of the reach of children, even when they climb on furniture. Cribs also should be away from blinds and the cords should never be tied, creating another hazardous loop.

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Consumer Product Safety Commission: http://www.cpsc.gov