The government and the window covering industry on Tuesday recalled more than 50 million Roman-style shades and roll-up blinds because of the risk children may be strangled by the cords.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission said five deaths and 16 near-strangulations from Roman shades have been reported since 2006, while three deaths connected to roll-up blinds have been reported since 2001.
Roman shades can become dangerous, the CPSC said, if a child’s neck gets stuck between the exposed inner cord and the fabric on the backside of the blind, or if the cord gets wrapped around a child’s neck.
