Fisher-Price, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, and Health Canada on Thursday announced a voluntary recall of approximately 96,000 Little People Play-n-Go Campsites in the U.S. (14,000 in Canada) because of a choking hazard, according to an Aug. 5 CPSC press release.

The recalled seven-piece plastic play set contains a character named Sonya Lee (see a photo of the character to the right), who can break at her waist and expose small parts that could pose a choking hazard to children.

No injuries have been reported, but Fisher-Price, a division of Mattel based in East Aurora, N.Y., said it has received eight reports of the Sonya Lee figure breaking.

"Only Sonya Lee figures that bend at the waist, have a green sweater and purple camera around the neck are included in this recall," according to the CPSC. "No other Sonya Lee figure is affected. The remaining pieces of the Little People Play 'n Go Campsite are not affected."

Consumers should immediately take the recalled play set away from children and contact Fisher-Price by calling 800-432-5437 to arrange a return of the Sonya Lee figure to receive a free replacement figure.

The recalled play sets were manufactured in China and were sold at "major retailers including mass merchandisers, discount stores, department stores and toy stores nationwide and in Puerto Rico, and by online retailers from Oct. 2009 through Aug. 2010 for about $15," according to the CPSC.

For more information, visit Mattel's Web site regarding the Fisher-Price recall here.

Don't Want BPA Leaching into Your Baby's Lunch? Look for These BPA-Free Bottles.

Plastic baby bottles have received extra attention recently as research came to light showing many popular models leach Bisphenol-A (BPA), a suspected endocrine disruptor. The plastic of concern, polycarbonate (plastic #7), is used by several manufacturers, but there are safe alternatives. Glass, polypropylene (PP or plastic #5), and other materials are easily found on the market.

Did you know August is National Breastfeeding Month? For such a great cause, The Bump  has whipped up a fabulous PSA video packed with celebs and real moms (including our own Jama Williamson) who all have one thing in common: they breastfed their babies and are proud of it! Check out the clip, share it with friends, and help us spread the word that breastfeeding doesn’t suck!

New York State just passed a law banning the sale of baby bottles, sippy cups, and a variety of other children’s products that contain bisphenol A—BPA—said WBEN. Governor David Paterson signed the law Saturday, which is scheduled to become effective December 1, 2010.

Governor Paterson said the new law will protect children from “a potentially harmful substance,” quoted WBEN. The legislation passed with a unanimous vote in the Senate and Assembly this June.

WBEN said that, citing advocates, about six other states have bans similar to NY’s emerging ban.

According to a previous WGRZ report, as of June, about 18 additional states were looking into legislation banning BPA, said Assemblyman Steven Englebright (Democrat-Suffolk County). Prior to this weekend’s move in NY state, Rockland, Albany, Schenectady, and Suffolk counties, all in NY, enacted similar laws restricting the use of BPA in sippy cup and baby bottles, said WGRZ, citing the bill’s sponsors. The states of Connecticut, Maryland, Minnesota, Washington, and Wisconsin have also adopted similar laws, added the sponsors.

The BBC previously wrote that BPA has been banned or limited in three countries: Canada, Denmark, and France. Bans are also in place in Australia, and New Zealand and last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it would be launching a study to look at the health effects of BPA, wrote TimesArgus.

A recent study commissioned by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that a slim majority of cash register receipts analyzed for bisphenol A  (BPA) levels showed either no BPA or just trace amounts of the substance. However, the remaining 40 percent of thermal paper receipts, originating with some of the largest retailers in the country, contained BPA levels anywhere from 250 to 1,000 times higher than products already known to contain BPA.

The report, featured 7/29/10 in CNN Health, cited companies such as McDonald's, CVS, KFC, Wal-Mart, Safeway, Whole Foods and even the US Postal Service as supplying cash register receipts and pieces of thermal paper with high levels of BPA.

Paper receipts from companies that showed just trace amounts of BPA or none at all included Starbucks, Target, and Bank of America ATM machines.

Bisphenol A has been a concern for the last number of years due to its carcinogenic properties. It has been found in everything from plastic water bottles to the linings of canned food and even baby bottles. A number of states have banned plastic baby bottles as a result.

A few years ago, a professor began sounding the warning bells about the presence of BPA in cash register receipts. Long before that, however, the manufacturers of thermal paper had been quietly altering their production protocols in an effort to rid their products of BPA. Appleton Papers, which indentifies itself as the largest manufacturer and supplier of thermal paper products in the US, phased out the use of BPA from their thermal paper line in 2006 out of safety concerns.

There’s a new way to make plastic decompose, according to a new study published in ACS’ Biomacromolecules, a monthly journal.

It involves cooking the plastic containing bisphenol A (BPA) – the environmentalists worst nightmare.

And this new method may just be solution that scientist’s have been looking for to dispose of these plastic in an eco-friendly way.

Polycarbonate is a highly resistant plastic and, according to Mukesh Doble and Trishul Artham, 2.7 million tons of plastic containing BPA are manufactured each year.

There are studies that implies the involvement of BPAs in several cases of illnesses and these have spawned a search on how to dispose the plastics without harming the environment.

BPAs are found in screwdriver handles, eyeglass lenses, DVDs, and CDs – just to mention a few.

The polycarbonates are first made to undergo ultraviolet light and heat.

Then they are placed among three kinds of fungi, including the famous white-rot fungus, which are employed commercially as the final solution in dealing with the toughest environmental pollutants.

The result was the fungi grew well in plastics pre teated with uv and they have broken down the plastic using BPA and other additives as suppliers of energy.

After a year, there was a marked desintigration of the pre treated plastics without releasing BPA, while the untreated ones remained in almost the same circumstances as they were at the beginning.

Always use the Nap Nanny on the floor away from any other products.

Another warning today about crib safety -- this time about NOT using certain sleepers inside the cribs.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is recalling 30,000 Nap Nanny portable baby recliners after the death of a 4-month-old girl from Royal Oak, Michigan who died in a Nap Nanny that was being used in a crib.

According to preliminary reports, the infant was in her harness and found hanging over the side of the product, caught between the Nap Nanny and the crib bumper like in the reenactment image below made by the CPSC to demonstrate the possibility.

There was another incident in which an infant became entrapped when the Nap Nanny was used in a crib, contrary to the product instructions. In that incident, the infant fell over the side of the Nap Nanny, despite being harnessed in, and was caught between the baby recliner and the side of the crib. In that case, the infant cut her forehead but suffered no major injury. There have been about two dozen additional reports of infants under 5 months falling over the Nap Nanny's side in a similar fashion when not in a crib. The CPSC says infants can partially hang over the side of the Nap Nanny even while the harness is in use.

"This situation can be worse if the Velcro straps, located inside the Nap Nanny cover are not properly attached to the "D"-rings located on the foam, or if consumers are using the first generation model Nap Nanny® that was sold without "D"-rings," says the CPSC.

According to the CPSC, the Nap Nanny should only be used on the floor -- never on a table or in a crib, which the directions say -- because of the danger of a child wiggling over the side despite being harnasses in.

Details of the recall from the CPSC: