Home Paper Shredders Pose Risks

Today I came across an interesting study in the February issue of the Journal Pediatrics about the dangers of home paper shredders. I suppose because I don't own one, I haven't considered the extent of the danger that these can pose to toddlers and young children. Paper shredders in the home are gaining in popularity due to fears of identity theft from stolen letters or documents thrown into in garbage bins.

In the Pediatrics article, the authors (researchers at the NYU School of Medicine) describe the case of a two year-old girl who sustained severe injury to two fingers as the result of an accident involving a home paper shredder. The article also describes the findings of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) recent investigation into 50 home paper shredder injuries that occurred between January 2000 and September 2005.

The CPSC study of paper shredder injuries showed that:

• 71% of the injuries involved children under 12, with over half of these involving children under three years of age.
• The majority of injuries that resulted in amputations of a digit occurred in children under six years of age.

Ergonomic analyses also showed that all the paper shredder models examined by the CPSC had the potential to allow a child's fingers to reach the cutting blades, and many models didn't have on/off switches. The observation that I found most surprising was that none of the paper shredders tested had a release mechanism to allow separation of the blades from one another, which means if a child's fingers did get stuck in the blades, ER personnel would have a very hard time removing the fingers from the blades.

The researchers strongly suggest that manufacturers redesign the shredders to make them safer and to display clear warnings directly on the machines.

For parents, the take-home message of the study is clear: Keep paper shredders out of reach of children, and keep them unplugged when not in use. They also recommend not allowing children to use the machines even under adult supervision, as shredders may pull children's fingers into the blades.

You can read the CPSC paper shredder alert online at http://www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PUBS/5127.pdf

Related Topics: Childproof Your Home, Prescription for a Healthy Home

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