New Federal Law Mandates Child Resistant Portable Gasoline Containers

WASHINGTON , D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

President George W. Bush signed the Act into law which requires portable gasoline containers manufactured for sale in the U.S. on or after January 17, 2009 to conform to child resistance safety requirements.

Gasoline containers will join containers with other flammable liquids, such as turpentine, charcoal lighter fluid, and torch fuel that are required to have child resistant closures. CPSC has jurisdiction over child resistant product packaging.

"Families who purchase gasoline cans with child resistant gas caps and who keep all flammable liquids out of the sight and reach of children are improving the safety of their homes," said CPSC Acting Chairman Nancy Nord.

CPSC recommends these safety tips for consumers.

• Buy a gasoline container that is child resistant.

• Place a gasoline container in a well ventilated, cool area.

• Never store gasoline or other fuel inside the house, in the basement, or near a fuel-burning appliance, open flames, pilot lights, stoves, heaters, electric mowers, or any other sources of ignition.

• Never smoke near gasoline.

• Never carry gasoline in the trunk of the car. Escaping vapors can easily ignite.

• Keep gasoline, kerosene and other fuels out of the reach of children. Never permit children to play with matches or fuel.

CPSC also requires child resistant packaging for many products that are dangerous for children to swallow including over-the-counter pain relievers such as aspirin, ibuprofen and acetaminophen, household cleaning products including drain openers, personal care products such as baby oil and mouthwash containing ethanol, and adult strength vitamins and supplements with iron. For aspirin and oral prescription medicine, special packaging has saved the lives of about 900 children since the early 1970s.

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Send the link for this page to a friend! The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from more than 15,000 types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $800 billion annually. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. The CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals - contributed significantly to the decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.

To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC's hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC's teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270, or visit CPSC's web site at www.cpsc.gov/talk.html. To join a CPSC email subscription list, please go to https://www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx. Consumers can obtain this release and recall information at CPSC's Web site at www.cpsc.gov.