There’s no question that electronics continue to be a hot category for promotional products distributors. We’ve talked about the risk with the peripherals, especially chargers and batteries. We haven’t spent much time on the topic of the Internet of Things (IoT), but since our industry frequently follows retail trends, perhaps we should.
What is the IoT? In a nutshell, IoT essentially means connected things. It won’t be long before your clients will be looking to brand connected devices like the Amazon Echo, security cameras, lights that change hue, smart thermostats, or smart door locks. When you can control something remotely from your portable device, it is powered by the IoT. If you’d like to familiarize yourself more fully with some of the hottest IoT-powered things, CNET has announced its 2018 list of the most popular.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is conducting a hearing in a couple of weeks to learn more about the potential safety risks of internet-connected products. According to the CPSC, there are two categories of risk:
- Prevention or elimination of hazardous conditions designed into products intentionally or without sufficient consideration (e.g., high-risk remote operation or network-enabled control of products or product features).
- Preventing and addressing incidents of hazardization, which it defines as "the situation created when a product that was safe when obtained by a consumer but which, when connected to a network, becomes hazardous through malicious, incorrect, or careless changes to operational code.”
So, for now, the Commission is primarily concerned with physical safety hazards that could result from the use of IoT products. As an example, “hazardization" could be the unintentional remote activation of heating elements on a stovetop. It could also be an integrated home security system failing to download software updates properly, potentially leaving a deactivated system, even including smoke alarms. Either situation could lead to fire or burn risk.
With so much in the news about computer hacking lately, it is surprising that the IoT hearing will not address it now. An IoT-enabled home security system with intercepted in-app communications could be hacked, turned on its owner and used to remotely invade their privacy, or even worse, gain physical access to it. The reality is that most of us are not tech-savvy enough to know which IoT products make us more, or less, safe. As manufacturers are certainly not going to police themselves, this is an issue that bears watching.
Are you spending too much time with the mean girls? Perhaps you are, and don’t know it. We’ve talked about the conflicting evidence about just how dangerous BPA is. Now, a new study suggests the “Bitchy Bisphenols” (BPA, BPS, and BPAF) may have struck again, this time at young girls. While still working with a relatively small sample in China, the compelling research links BPA to early puberty in girls. Specifically, the symptoms are referred to as “idiopathic central precocious puberty,” and it means that young girls are physically developing at a rapid pace, entering puberty much earlier than ever before, and exhibiting secondary sexual characteristics before they are emotionally ready. The problem joins the list of potential issues with the BPA family, which already includes obesity, infertility and behavioral problems.
A recent article from Mamavation coined the phrase “Bitchy Bisphenols,” and it’s a great way to remember that BPA has mean girl sisters that you really don’t want to hang with. While our industry has gone primarily BPA-free, it’s always a good idea to double-check with your suppliers that BPS or BPAF haven’t been substituted.
What to do about this? If you are pregnant, or have young girls in the house, there are three specific things you can do right now to avoid this serious risk:
- Stop touching thermal receipt paper. If a receipt is shiny, it likely contains BPA. Just don’t take the receipt or better yet, get one online.
- Stop drinking water or eating food from plastic containers. Don’t ever heat plastic in the microwave, whatever you do. Try to use stainless steel or glass instead.
- Stop eating canned foods or drinking soft drinks from cans. There are plenty of alternatives that are available in glass.
How about you, think you could work the IoT and Mean Girls into your next conversation about product safety with your clients? It’s in your best interest AND theirs.
Jeff Jacobs has been an expert in building brands and brand stewardship for 40 years, working in commercial television, Hollywood film and home video, publishing, and promotional brand merchandise. He’s a staunch advocate of consumer product safety and has a deep passion and belief regarding the issues surrounding compliance and corporate social responsibility. He retired as executive director of Quality Certification Alliance, the only non-profit dedicated to helping suppliers provide safe and compliant promotional products. Before that, he was director of brand merchandise for Michelin. You can find him volunteering as a Guardian ad Litem, traveling the world with his lovely wife, or enjoying a cigar at his favorite local cigar shop. Connect with Jeff on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram, or reach out to him at jacobs.jeffreyp@gmail.com.