Getting The Message Out About Recalls

New Consumer Product Safety Commission Program Alerts People

(CBS)  You've heard about the recent recalls of millions of toys, and maybe you also heard about this week's recall of thousands of decorative candles. But too many of us don't get the message, as The Early Show consumer correspondent Susan Koeppen found out.

The toys with lead paint made big news, but many recalls fall through the cracks.

Missing one can have dangerous, even deadly consequences: when 16-month-old Danny Keysar was killed in a portable crib that collapsed around his neck, his parents had no idea that it had been recalled five years earlier.

"We were shocked. Shocked. We couldn't believe that other kids had died and we hadn't heard about this," says Danny's mother, Linda Ginzel.

Every year, the Consumer Product Safety Commission issues nearly 500 recalls, including everything from beds that collapse to clothes that can catch fire. But some of the people who own these products never get the message.

"One of the biggest challenges is informing consumers," says the CPSC's Nancy Nord.

Take the case of the Hasbro Easy-Bake oven. There was a major recall by the CPSC in February. Following reports of children getting their hands and fingers caught, even burned, the company designed a new part to prevent injuries. But John Moore and his family never heard about it until his daughter Ava got her hand stuck a few months later.

"More than a dozen firemen, EMS, police showed up and it took them about 20 minutes to get her hand out of the Easy-Bake oven," recalls Moore.

Ava wasn't seriously injured, but when John tried to send an e-mail warning to his friends about her mishap, he discovered the warning already put out by the government.

"We had not imagined that the unplugged Easy-Bake oven would be a danger to anyone in this house. We thought that the danger with the Easy-Bake oven was the heat. We were surprised at what happened," Moore says.

Ava's incident and more than 200 others like it prompted the CPSC to issue another recall of the Easy-Bake oven, this time, asking owners to return the product to the company.

Some recalls do make major headlines, but still many dangerous products linger in homes well after they have been pulled from the shelves. And some make their way to garage sales, swap meets and onto the Internet.

University of Dayton researcher Keri Brown Kirschman found that many recalled children's products are resold in online auction sites, often years after they were deemed dangerous. In her recent study, Kirschman tracked recalled products for a month on eBay.

"Seventy percent of the time these products were reselling to potentially put other children in danger," Kirschman says.

To get the word out and get dangerous products out of homes, the CPSC has started a program called "Drive to One Million," encouraging at least a million consumers to sign up for recall alerts that are sent to your inbox.

"This is important safety information and it's something that consumers can get as easily as a click of the mouse," Nord explains.

John Moore and his family are now signed up for alerts. And since Danny's death, his parents have made it their mission to education others about the importance of recalls.

"It was a completely preventable death. Completely preventable," says Danny's father Boaz Keysar. "Danny did not have to die."

To sign up for these recall alerts, visit cpsc.gov or recalls.gov.