Loungers, which are supposed to be used when babies are awake and supervised, can put babies at risk of suffocation or suffocation within minutes, the researchers found.
Leila Register | nbc news
A recalled baby pillow that has now been linked to at least 10 infant deaths is still widely sold on Facebook Marketplace, and federal regulators are asking the company to do more to halt sales.
A series of newborn loungers from The Boppy Company were recalled in September 2021 after eight deaths were linked to the product. Shortly after the retreat, two other babies died in their sleep on the pillows, the Consumer Product Safety Commission he said Tuesday in a news release.
In an incident in October 2021, an infant was placed in the lounger to sleep and later died of positional asphyxia after rolling under a nearby adult pillow, the agency said.
The following month, another baby was placed in a lounger in an adult bed with a parent present and later found dead on the pillow, the agency said, adding that the cause of death had not been determined.
The products are dangerous because infants can suffocate if they roll, shift or are placed on the lounger in a position that obstructs breathing, the CPSC said. Babies can also suffocate if they roll off the lounger onto another surface, such as an adult pillow, the agency said.
Sales of the recalled products, which include the Boppy Original Newborn Lounger, Boppy Preferred Newborn Lounger, and Pottery Barn Kids Boppy Newborn Lounger, have been illegal for nearly two years. But CPSC has found thousands of the recalled loungers available for sale on Facebook Marketplace, the agency’s commissioners and president said. wrote in a letter on Tuesday directed at Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of the parent company Facebook Goal.
The agency formally requests, on average, about 1,000 times a month, that Meta remove the listings, but the products are still available on the site and sales continue, according to the letter.
“These sales are illegal; it is against the law to sell recalled consumer products, whether new or used,” the letter said. “Too often, the CPSC has found [recalled] products listed for sale on Facebook Marketplace even after recall information has been provided to your business. We ask that you identify recalled and infringing products and prevent them from being listed by your users. By allowing such products to be listed, you are putting Facebook Marketplace users at risk.”
In response, a Meta spokesperson told CNBC that it takes this issue seriously.
“Like other platforms where people can buy and sell products, there are cases of people knowingly or unknowingly selling recalled products on Marketplace,” the spokesperson said. “When we find listings that violate our rules, we remove them.”
The company noted that its policies prohibit the sale of recalled products and said it works closely with governments, regulators and manufacturers to identify recalled products for sale on its platform.
The CPSC has found thousands of the recalled loungers available for sale on Facebook Marketplace.
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It relies on its trade review system, which is largely automated, to enforce its policies, but it said staff manually review listings in some cases.
CPSC commissioners said the sale of recalled products on Facebook Marketplace has been an ongoing problem involving more than just baby pillows, but they called the sales of Boppy loungers a “particularly egregious example.”
In April, CPSC Chairman Alexander Hoehn-Saric wrote to Meta about sales of the recalled Fisher Price Rock ‘n Play Sleeper on Facebook Marketplace. In Tuesday’s letter from the agency, he noted that Meta had made finding the product more difficult after the letter was sent, but consumers were still able to find and buy it.
“This is a useful first step, but a system that prioritizes preventing such sales should be able to detect recalled products in real time, not just restrict searches when the matter gains government attention and public notoriety,” the letter said.
“As a leading technology company, Meta can and should dedicate the necessary resources to protect consumers by preventing both the listing and sale of recalled products,” he continued. “It should also incorporate access to recall information, facilitating the consumer’s ability to identify recalled products and obtain available remedies to address the dangers they pose.”
Instead of incorporating recall information directly into Marketplace listings, the company instructs buyers and sellers to “search the item manufacturer’s website” to find out if the item in a listing has been recalled.
Meta noted that it has contacted Boppy and is working with the company to remove the lists that are flagged for their teams.
CPSC has asked Meta to respond by June 30 with any changes it intends to make to address the sale of recalled products.