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Safe Use of Consumer Products

On this page:

• Check the Latest News About Possible Health Risks
• Know the Risks and Make Sure Your Child Is Safe
• Turn Down the Volume -- Noise From Consumer Products

Check the Latest News About Possible Health Risks

Health Canada provides advisories and warnings to help educate Canadians about potential health risks associated with the unsafe use of certain consumer products. Visit the consumer safety portal to access the following services:

• Consumer Product Safety Warnings and Advisories
• Cosmetics -- Warnings and Advisories
• Subscribe to Consumer Product Safety News so that you can receive the latest news and information about Health Canada's work in the area of consumer product safety.

  Subscribers receive updates when new information, consumer advisories and warnings, consumer product recalls, and consultation documents on consumer product safety are posted on the Health Canada website.

Know the Risks and Make Sure Your Child is Safe
Children are naturally curious and do not easily recognize and avoid hazards. Many injuries can be avoided by supervising children carefully and by making their surroundings safer.

• Consult Health Canada's booklet Is your child safe? It provides information on a range of topics, including blind and curtain cords, baby slings, pacifiers, playgrounds and strollers, etc.
• Federal law sets strict safety requirements for children's toys. Consult Health Canada's pamphlet Toy Safety Tips for information on choosing safe toys and using them safely.

Turn Down the Volume -- Noise from Consumer Products

The loudest noise from consumer products comes from personal stereo systems that combine headphones or earphones with portable music players. The players might be radios, or devices that play compact discs, cassettes or stored music files such as MP3 players. Some toys also make very loud noises.

What Are the Health Effects?

The regular use of some consumer products, such as sound-making toys and personal stereo devices at very loud levels, can lead to permanent hearing loss over time.

How Do I Know if I Have a Problem?

• If someone a metre away must shout to be understood, the sound level of the sound-making toys or personal stereo device is probably too loud and may be hazardous.

What Can I Do?

• Limit your exposure to loud noise.

Avoid buying children's toys that produce high sound levels. Look for sound-making toys that have volume-control features or an on-off switch so that sound can be kept low or turned off. Remember, children may hold toys closer to their ears than adults.

Read More About the Safe Use of Consumer Products

• Is Your Child Safe?
• Children's Products
• Consumer Product Safety
• Hearing Loss and Leisure Noise