About 5 million swimming pools that have been linked to nine deaths of children over the last two decades have been recalled by their manufacturers, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Monday morning.
In a press release, the CPSC stated that the pools, specifically those 48 inches in height or taller, are equipped with compression straps that serve as footholds, allowing small children to climb into the water unattended, even if a ladder is removed.
Nine children who died as a result were aged between 22 months and three years old, the CPSC said. The deaths occurred in California, Texas, Florida, Wisconsin and Missouri between 2007 and 2022.
The CPSC press release stated that it was also aware of three other incidents in 2011 and 2012, in which children who gained access to the pool were reported to have previously used the compression straps to enter the pools.
The manufacturers are Bestway, based in Hong Kong; Bestway (USA) Inc., based in Arizona; International Ltd, from China; Intex Recreation Corp., in California, and Polygroup North America Inc., based in Texas.
They were sold in stores such as Walmart, Target, Sears, Kmart, Lowe’s, and Toys “R” Us, as well as through online stores like Amazon. They range in price from $400 to $1,000 and are manufactured in China.
Anyone with one of the affected pools is urged to contact the manufacturer to request a free repair kit, which includes a rope that attaches to each of the vertical support poles and wraps around the pool.
The rope will “maintain the structural integrity of the pool” instead of the compression strap, which should be cut and removed.
Around 266,000 of the pools were also sold in Canada, where they have also been recalled, as per an announcement from Health Canada.
