Safety regulators are suing Amazon to force it to recall hazardous products sold on its site, including flammable children’s pajamas, faulty carbon monoxide detectors and hair dryers that don’t protect users from getting electrocuted.

What You Need To Know

  • The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission filed a complaint on Wednesday in order to force Amazon to recall hazardous products sold on its site

  • The dangerous products include faulty carbon monoxide detectors, sleepwear that violated fabric safety standards and hair dryers with insufficient electric shock protection

  • Amazon said in a statement that the company already removed the “vast majority” of the hazardous products, notified customers, gave refunds and asked shoppers to get rid of the products themselves

  • The safety commission said Amazon’s actions were “insufficient” and it wants the company to do more, including issue recalls with the commission and destroy any of the goods sent back by customers

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which filed the complaint late Wednesday, noted that the online shopping giant stopped selling some of the faulty products.

According to the complaint, the CPSC doesn't think Amazon went far enough. The commission found nearly 400,000 hair dryers sold on Amazon didn’t have a device in the plug that protects users from being electrocuted when dropped in water, around 24,000 carbon monoxide detectors that didn’t work when the gas was present and "numerous" instances of sleepwear garments, children’s pajamas, night gowns and bathrobes that violated fabric safety standards and risked burn injuries to kids.

"Today’s vote to file an administrative complaint against Amazon was a huge step forward for this small agency,” Acting Chairman Robert Adler wrote in a statement on Wednesday. “But it’s a huge step across a vast desert—we must grapple with how to deal with these massive third-party platforms more efficiently, and how best to protect the American consumers who rely on them.”

The commission voted 3-1 in favor of the lawsuit, Adler noted. 

Amazon said in a statement that it was “unclear” why the safety commission filed a complaint when the company already removed the “vast majority” of the hazardous products, notified customers, gave refunds and asked shoppers to get rid of the products themselves.

The safety commission said Amazon’s actions were “insufficient” and it wants the company to do more, including issue recalls with the commission and destroy any of the goods sent back by customers.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut who is chair of the Senate's Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance, and Data Security, said in a statement that the lawsuit sends a message to Amazon and other online marketplaces: “Knowingly selling dangerous and defective products that imperil Americans will not be tolerated,” he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.