barb@pyuxa.UUCP (B E Nemeth) (01/04/86)
I thought I would pass on some info I heard regarding "Comfy" dolls. These dolls are made in Taiwan, but I do not know the manufacturers name, although the dolls are called "Comfy". It seems the doll's stuffing is contaminated with insecticide/pesticide. The grandchild of someone my mom works with was getting sick and after some investigation they found out about this contaminated doll that the child had. This is all the info I have. Has anyone heard of anything else? Barb Nemeth bellcore!pyuxa!barb
mcal@ihuxb.UUCP (Mike Clifford) (01/04/86)
> I thought I would pass on some info > I heard regarding "Comfy" dolls. > These dolls are made in Taiwan, > but I do not know the manufacturers name, > although the dolls are called "Comfy". > It seems the doll's stuffing is contaminated > with insecticide/pesticide. > The grandchild of someone my mom works with > was getting sick and after some investigation > they found out about this contaminated doll that the > child had. > This is all the info I have. > Has anyone heard of anything else? > Barb Nemeth > bellcore!pyuxa!barb Hmmm, we bought one of these Comfy dolls for Lauren (about $5, right?) and haven't seen any ill effects. I sure do hate to take the chance that it is OK, only to have Lauren get sick later. I'd really appreciate more details, or maybe more on how it was discovered that the doll was contaminated, the symptoms of the illness... Also, the same company (Abernathy and ???) is offering "Comfy" Bears now. We just received something in the mail about it. Looks very similar to the Comfy doll. Mike Clifford
dsn@umcp-cs.UUCP (Dana S. Nau) (01/05/86)
In article <1342@pyuxa.UUCP> barb@pyuxa.UUCP (B E Nemeth) writes: >I thought I would pass on some info I heard regarding "Comfy" dolls. ... >It seems the doll's stuffing is contaminated with insecticide/pesticide. ... According to a UPI article in the Dec. 29 Washington Post, the Los Angeles county health dept. has found six "Komfy Kid" dolls to be contaminated with phenol. Several other chemicals also were found, including Malathion in one of the dolls. The article says these chemicals are "similar to those discovered in at least 8000 'Cabbage Patch'-type dolls last week by health officials." The article says there are no "substantiated reports" of a child becoming ill because of the dolls, but that health officials are asking all consumers who have noticed kerosene-like odors in such dolls to either send them back or take them to the health department. The Komfy Kid dolls are imported from Taiwan, and are marketed by Abernathy and Closther (whom health workers have been unable to contact!). The article speculates that Abernathy and Closther may also market the "Popcorn Kid" and "Chocolate Kid" dolls. According to the article, the Consumer Product Safety Commission doesn't think the dolls pose a "significant health threat"--but the LA County Health Dept. says the CPSC is only concerned with toys that cause acute illness and death, and does not address chronic, long-term effects on health. -- Dana S. Nau, Comp Sci Dept, U of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 dsn@maryland seismo!umcp-cs!dsn (301) 454-7932
larry@kitty.UUCP (Larry Lippman) (01/06/86)
> I thought I would pass on some info > I heard regarding "Comfy" dolls. > These dolls are made in Taiwan, > but I do not know the manufacturers name, > although the dolls are called "Comfy". > It seems the doll's stuffing is contaminated > with insecticide/pesticide. > The grandchild of someone my mom works with > was getting sick and after some investigation > they found out about this contaminated doll that the > child had. > This is all the info I have. > Has anyone heard of anything else? The outfit selling the Comfy Kid Dolls under the name "A&C" is the very same infamous Abernathy & Closthier, which is related to Carter & Van Peel, which is related to Romar Sales, which is related to Marine Surplus Depot, which is related to Windisch Interational, which is related to ad nauseam... This is also the same outfit which sold the `Malin' hunting knives discussed in this newsgroup a few months ago. You get what you pay for... ==> Larry Lippman @ Recognition Research Corp., Clarence, New York <== ==> UUCP {decvax|dual|rocksanne|rocksvax|watmath}!sunybcs!kitty!larry <== ==> VOICE 716/741-9185 {rice|shell}!baylor!/ <== ==> FAX 716/741-9635 {G1, G2, G3 modes} duke!ethos!/ <== ==> burl!gladys!/ <== ==> "Have you hugged your cat today?" ihnp4!/ <==
stu16@whuxl.UUCP (SMITH) (01/07/86)
> In article <1342@pyuxa.UUCP> barb@pyuxa.UUCP (B E Nemeth) writes: > >I thought I would pass on some info I heard regarding "Comfy" dolls. ... > >It seems the doll's stuffing is contaminated with insecticide/pesticide. ... Good old A&C have done it again!!!! -- whuxl!stu16
waycott@mot.UUCP (John Waycott) (01/09/86)
> I thought I would pass on some info > I heard regarding "Comfy" dolls. > It seems the doll's stuffing is contaminated > with insecticide/pesticide. > Has anyone heard of anything else? > A local paper here had an article just after Christmas concerning these dolls. According to the article, California health officials claim that the dolls are contaminated with insecticide and petroleum products. Federal officals say that there is no problem. The article also said that the U.S. distributor will give anyone a full refund if it is returned (I can't remember who that is). They also suggested that you have the doll tested by the local Health Department. My daughter got two of these dolls for Christmas, and after reading the article we inspected the dolls and noticed a very heavy smell, similary to petroleum based products like "Raid". Since the dolls were so cheap, we decided it was not worth the effort to return them so we destroyed them. One of our neighbor's got one of the dolls for her daughter, but it seemed to smell okay. -- John Waycott, Motorola Microsystems, Tempe, AZ, (602) 438-3164 {seismo!terak, trwrb!flkvax, utzoo!mnetor, ihnp4, attunix}!mot!waycott oakhill!mot!waycott@ut-sally.ARPA