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We Found 22 Potentially Hazardous Toys

For 30 years, U.S. PIRG Education Fund has conducted an annual survey of toy safety, which has led to more than 150 recalls and other regulatory actions over the years, and has helped educate the public and policymakers on the need for continued action to protect the health and wellbeing of children. 2015 marks our 30th release of the Trouble in Toyland report, which highlights 22 potentially hazardous toys and includes tips for keeping children safe from the toys you already own. These toys are only examples. Other hazards may exist.

4 that may pose toxic hazards

 

2 magnets that may pose ingestion hazards

 

5 that may pose noise hazards

 

And 11 that may pose choking hazards or may violate 
choke hazard warning rules

  

Issue updates

News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Blood pressure medication recalled for 75th time in 8 months

The presence of chemicals that likely cause cancer has prompted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to announce another recall of the blood pressure medication Valsartan. In response, U.S. PIRG Consumer Watchdog Adam Garber released the following statement. 

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News Release | Public Health, Consumer Protection

FDA tests prompt Claire’s to pull asbestos-laden kids’ makeup from shelves

The mall chain store Claire’s is removing from shelves three talc-based products — eye shadows, compact powder and contour powder — that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said earlier this week contain asbestos.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG | Consumer Protection

Consumers Take a Back Seat at CFPB as Kathy Kraninger Testifies

Here is our statement about tomorrow's Congressional hearing on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

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News Release | US PIRG Education Fund | Public Health, Consumer Protection

FDA finds asbestos in Claire’s makeup sold to children, confirming U.S. PIRG test results

 Nearly a year after a U.S. PIRG Education Fund study showed that U.S.-based retailer Claire’s has been selling makeup contaminated with carcinogenic asbestos, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has confirmed our test results. Both PIRG Education Fund and the FDA found asbestos contamination in some of Claire’s makeup products marketed to children.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection, Food

Investigation of E. Coli outbreak in lettuce reveals need for more protections

The FDA investigation reinforces that our food isn't nearly as safe as it should be. This time, more than 60 people got sick from salads, probably because a company failed to sanitize the water used to grow its romaine lettuce.

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News Release | US PIRG Education Fund | Public Health, Consumer Protection

FDA finds asbestos in Claire’s makeup sold to children, confirming U.S. PIRG test results

 Nearly a year after a U.S. PIRG Education Fund study showed that U.S.-based retailer Claire’s has been selling makeup contaminated with carcinogenic asbestos, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has confirmed our test results. Both PIRG Education Fund and the FDA found asbestos contamination in some of Claire’s makeup products marketed to children.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection, Food

Investigation of E. Coli outbreak in lettuce reveals need for more protections

The FDA investigation reinforces that our food isn't nearly as safe as it should be. This time, more than 60 people got sick from salads, probably because a company failed to sanitize the water used to grow its romaine lettuce.

> Keep Reading
News Release | U.S. PIRG | Consumer Protection

Wells Fargo customers should file complaints with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and beware phishing scams

Here is our statement about Wells Fargo’s system failures that started yesterday.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG | Consumer Protection

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau gives payday debt traps its seal of approval

Here is our statement about the CFPB's proposal for gutting its own payday lending protections.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Equifax’s Original Credit Lock Expires Tomorrow

Here is our press release about tomorrow's expiration of Equifax's original product it offered consumers after its massive data breach.

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Report | U.S. PIRG | Consumer Protection

We Urge CFPB To Provide Mobile Financial Protections

Along with the Center for Digital Democracy, our co-investigator on a series of projects related to "big data" and financial opportunity, we've filed detailed comments to the CFPB regarding the need for strong consumer protections as more and more consumers use mobile financial services. We argue that "mobile technologies and services pose both opportunities and risks to consumers, their privacy, and to the kinds and price of services they are offered."

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Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

The Unfriendly Skies

Consolidation in the airline industry, along with pressures created by new security rules and the recent high cost of aviation gasoline, has changed the way we fly. It seems as if every consumer has an airline travel story—how they were trapped on the tarmac, tricked by fees, missed their connection, or lost their bag.

What many consumers don’t know is that they do have a number of new rights as well as a right to complain, both to the airline and to the government.

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Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Debt Collectors, Debt Complaints

This is the fifth in a series of reports that review complaints to the CFPB nationally and on a state-by-state level. In this report we explore consumer complaints about debt collection, with the aim of uncovering patterns in the problems consumers are experiencing with debt collectors and documenting the role of the CFPB in helping consumers successfully resolve their complaints.

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Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Credit Cards, Consumer Complaints

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was established in 2010 in the wake of the worst financial crisis in decades. Its mission is to identify dangerous and unfair financial practices, to educate consumers about these practices, and to regulate the financial institutions that perpetuate them.

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Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Trouble in Toyland 2013

The 2013 Trouble in Toyland report is the 28th annual U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) survey of toy safety. In this report, U.S. PIRG provides safety guidelines for consumers when purchasing toys for small children and provides examples of toys currently on store shelves that may pose potential safety hazards.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

CFPB Report Finds 1 In 4 Consumers Feel "Threatened" By Debt Collector Tactics | Ed Mierzwinski

We joined Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray and Washington, DC Attorney General Karl Racine for release of new CFPB data on debt collector abuses. Fully 1 in 4 consumers feel "threatened" by abusive, possibly illegal, debt collector tactics. The release also included an emphasis on problems with the "debt buyer" industry, comprised of firms that buy older, uncollected debt for as little as less than a penny on the dollar.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

U.S. SUPREME COURT TO DECIDE WHETHER CREDIT CARD COMPANIES CAN CONTINUE TO OBSCURE THE TRUE COST OF CREDIT | Michael Landis

Credit cards are convenient. But using them is expensive. The problem is that most consumers don’t know just how expensive it is. That might change in some states after the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in on a case currently pending before it.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection, Financial Reform

OUR TAKE ON THE LATEST ATTACK ON THE CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU | Michael Landis

Though the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finds itself under constant attack. The most recent is from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. U.S. PIRG Education Fund—along with nine other consumer and civil rights organizations—filed an amicus brief in support of the CFPB’s request for a rehearing before the entire D.C. Circuit. The Department of Justice also filed a brief in support of the CFPB’s request. It is important that the October ruling is corrected so that the CFPB remains a strong and independent agency that looks out for consumers.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

This New Year, Celebrate the CFPB | Ed Mierzwinski

This month, we published our 8th report based on analyzing consumer complaints collected in the CFPB's Public Consumer Complaint Database. The release of "Big Banks, Big Overdraft Fees" provides a good year-end opportunity to summarize a few of the reasons to be thankful for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which took over in July 2011 as the first federal regulator with just one job: protecting consumers from unfair financial practices. The idea of the CFPB needs no defense, only more defenders.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Fight Against Unfair ATM Surcharge Fees Heads to the U.S. Supreme Court (UPDATED) | Michael Landis

UPDATE: I recently wrote about an amicus brief that U.S. PIRG Education Fund filed in support of consumers and independent ATM owners in two consolidated cases pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. Well, those cases aren’t pending anymore. On November 17, 2016, the Court issued a rare order throwing out the cases before they were argued.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund

College students can save hundreds as they head back to school

College is expensive, requiring many students to take out significant loans to afford an education. On top of that, students have to deal with the additional costs of textbooks, computers and other critical supplies. As students head back to school -- or to school for the first time -- U.S. PIRG Education Fund is releasing a money-saving guide to help them cut those additional costs.

Report | U.S.PIRG Education Fund and Kids In Danger

Recalled Infant Sleepers

Every day, millions of kids are dropped off at child care facilities across the country by parents and caretakers who are looking forward to seeing them safe and sound at the end of the day. But new research found some dangerous recalled products are still in use at child care facilities across the country.

News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund & Kids in Danger

1 in 10 surveyed daycares still using deadly, recalled infant sleepers

Three months after nearly 5.4 million infant sleepers were recalled for causing 36 infant deaths, a new survey by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education (U.S. PIRG) and Kids in Danger (KID) revealed that many child care facilities continue to use these dangerous inclined sleepers.

News Release | U.S. PIRG

Largest bank hack ever, of Capital One, exposes 100 million to identity theft

Everyone should assume that their social security number has been exposed between this breach and breaches of other major companies’ databases, such as Equifax’s. With that in mind, U.S. PIRG recommends all Americans should use their right by law to freeze their credit reports for free

News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Equifax penalty is a “sweetheart deal” that leaves consumers at risk

Our response to Equifax paying a $650 million penalty for exposing the social security numbers of 148 million Americans to identity theft.

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