LOS ANGELES (CNS) - More than 2,400 potentially hazardous hair dryers shipped from China were intercepted at the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport complex for lacking a required safety device to prevent against electrical shock and electrocution, authorities announced today.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and import specialists assigned to the seaport, in collaboration with U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission investigators, seized the 2,418 hair dryers on July 17 “for lacking the required immersion protection device, resulting in a substantial product hazard,'' according to a CBP statement.
“Hand hair dryers not equipped with such device could expose the user to electrical shock and/or electrocution,'' the statement says.
“Protecting consumers from unsafe imported products is always a priority for CBP and our collaboration with CPSC is one of the biggest success stories,'' said Carlos C. Martel, CBP director of field operations in Los Angeles. “With one single enforcement action we prevented the entry of products that can potentially put the lives of thousands Americans at risk.''
Integral immersion protection reduces the risk of electric shock if a hair dryer is immersed in, or otherwise contacts, water. The protection is provided in a block-shaped plug that incorporates a type of circuit interrupter.
Photo: U.S. Customs and Border Protection