In these deadly cases, the recalled Chinese beanbag chairs have two zippers that can be unzipped, including one on the exterior cover and another directly underneath that zipper.
Two American children are dead from suffocating in beanbag chairs from Ace Bayou Corp., of New Orleans, La. As a result, about 2.2 million beanbag chairs are now recalled in the U.S. It appears that the zippers on the Chinese-made beanbag chairs can be opened and children can then crawl inside, are trapped and suffocate or choke on the beanbag chair’s foam beads. A 13-year old boy from McKinney, Texas and a 3-year-old girl from Lexington, Kentucky died after suffocating from lack of air and inhaling the chair’s foam beads. Both children were found lifeless inside the chairs.
The so-called and obviously ineffective “voluntary standard” for makers requires that non-refillable beanbag chairs have closed and permanently disabled zippers. Critics, of course, have long maintained that voluntary standards are ineffective, and anyone with a cursory knowledge of the auto industry knows this to be true in practice. Regulation requires enforcement if it is to stand up to corporate profit motives.
In these deadly cases, the recalled Chinese beanbag chairs have two zippers that can be unzipped and opened, including one on the exterior cover and another directly underneath that zipper. The recalled chairs with zippers that open were sold in a variety of sizes, shapes, colors and fabrics. They include round or L-shaped configurations, vinyl or fabric materials, and are filled with polystyrene foam beads. They were also sold in a variety of colors, including purple, violet, blue, red, pink, yellow, Kelly green, black, port, navy, lime, royal blue, turquoise, tangerine and multi-color.
The round beanbag chairs were available at Bon-Ton, Meijer, Pamida, School Specialty, Wayfair and Walmart stores and online at Amazon.com, Meijer.com and Walmart.com before July 2013 for between $30 and $100.
Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the U.S. more than $1 trillion annually, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
