Drawstrings to Be Removed From Children’s Garments

Nearly two dozen apparel makers have agreed to remove drawstrings from the hoods and necks of children’s garments in an effort to prevent strangulation, the Consumer Products Safety Commission said Thursday.

Drawstrings that caught on playground equipment, cribs, fences and an escalator have been blamed for the deaths of 12 children and the injury of 27 others since 1985. The children were between 15 months and 11 years old.

At a news conference in Washington, commission Chairman Ann Brown said the agreement is potentially lifesaving.

“Drawstrings on children’s clothing are a danger that can catch and kill,” she said. “It is entirely preventable.”

Garments involved in the agreement are those designed for children between the ages of 6 months and 14 years. The agreement will remove the strings from 20 million garments annually. The size of the children’s market for hooded sweat shirts, jackets, T-shirts and capes isn’t known.

The commission said 21 companies have agreed to eliminate the drawstrings beginning this fall or next year. Among the companies agreeing to redesign clothing are Haddad Apparel Group, makers of several lines, including Bugle Boy and Hush Puppies; Walter Jerome & Co., makers of Tidykins; Oshkosh B’Gosh; Nike; L.L. Bean; Levi-Strauss, and Health-Tex.

Although many other manufacturers are not on the list, a commission spokeswoman said Thursday’s announcement is merely the start of a drive to eliminate hazardous drawstrings from children’s clothing entirely. She said the commission has received agreements from most of the companies it has approached so far.

The commission’s staff is preparing a “briefing package” for the three-member panel suggesting various ways it can prod the industry to remove the drawstrings. The commission could impose a ban, though the process usually takes years.The options could be available by next month, the spokeswoman said.

The commission advised parents to either remove drawstrings from their children’s clothes or modify them to make them less hazardous. The commission said parents can sew a seam through the drawstring at the middle of the hood and neck so that neither end can pull out and catch on an object. Parents are advised to cut the strings as short as needed to close the garment.

Attending the news conference was Thelma Sibley, mother of a 5-year-old girl who died in January when the string on her jacket caught on an elementary school slide in Ann Arbor, Mich.