Home improvement giant Lowe’s is voluntarily recalling six million Roman shades and five million roll-up blinds after a reports of near-strangulations on the cords of the blinds.
A four-year old boy from Lexington, South Carolina suffered burns on his neck in July after becoming entangled in the cord of a Roman shade. In Arvada, Colorado in November of 2009, a two-year old boy was found also entangled in a cord, wrapped around his arm and neck.
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, U.S. regulators received reports of five deaths and 16 near-strangulation with Roman shades since 2006 and three deaths with roll-up blinds since 2001.
Lowe’s is joining in with a recall that was orchestrated by the CPSC in December of last year that included more than 50 million roll-up and Roman shades.
Karen Cobb, a spokeswoman for Lowe’s said, “This is not something Lowe’s had to do, it’s something Lowe’s chose to do. We wanted to make sure customers are inspecting window coverings in their homes. This is another way of adding awareness.”
The CPSC said that the Roman shades that were recalled were sold at Lowe’s store locations and website from 1999 through June of this year. The roll-up blinds were sold from 1999 through January of 2005.
Consumers can get free repair kits from the Widow Covering Safety Council by calling 1-800-506-4636 or visiting their website athttp://www.windowcoverings.org/.
