Raising children can be expensive, and finding ways to save money while still providing for a family is almost always a great thing. Often buying products second-hand can relieve the strain on a wallet; however, according to one news source, because of safety concerns, there are certain items that should never be purchased used or second-hand.
Items to avoid buying second-hand:
Child safety seats. There is no way to know if a second-hand child safety seat was used in a car crash. If it has been involved in a crash, a child safety seat will not offer the same level of protection in a second crash. Seats that are older may not meet the most recent safety standards or have all of the latest safety features. Safety seats also degrade over time and carry an expiration date, generally six years.
Children’s outerwear with drawstrings. Drawstrings on children’s clothing pose entanglement and strangulation risks, and have been banned for by federal law for more than ten years; however, second-hand clothing with drawstrings is still available on the second-hand market.
Toys and jewelry. By law, toys and children’s jewelry must have acceptably low levels of lead in their paint and materials and meet other federal safety standards. Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing how much lead is in a second-hand toy or piece of jewelry, items that can find their way into a child’s mouth. The most recent regulations require that the lead levels in the underlying materials in toys and other children’s products be no more than 100 parts per million. Paint and other surface coatings can have no more than 90 ppm.
Keeping children safe is an integral part of being a parent. As a Los Angeles personal injury attorney, I support parent’s efforts keep their children safe and healthy, and hope that this information has been of service.