Health Canada said all seasonal lights manufactured by Taizhou Hongpeng Colour Lanterns “may pose a serious safety risk.”
The agency said the indoor and outdoor lights have been widely distributed across Canada in a number of stores under a wide variety of brand names. The affected products include Halloween and Christmas lights.
Health Canada started testing the lights after receiving a number of incident reports. Its testing uncovered hazards in several products, including overheating, as well as the risk of fire and electric shock.
“Samples tested by both Health Canada and the CSA Group confirm that these decorative lighting products do not comply with Canadian standards posing a potential danger to the health and safety of Canadians,” said Health Canada officials.
“Applying the CSA certification mark to a product that is not compliant with the standard is a misuse of the CSA Certification Mark. The department is seeking further information about products from the responsible companies as required and has requested recalls for the affected products.”
The manufacturer is also known as Ningbo EGO International Co. Ltd.
The total number of affected products is not known and Health Canada is in the process of obtaining information from retailers and distributors. They include “Life at Home” indoor lights sold at Loblaw companies, mini Christmas lights sold at Dollarama and “Celebrate It” indoor and outdoor lights sold at Michaels. For a full list, click here.
Consumers should check their lights for the CSA file numbers 241989 and 263917, which is usually found on a sticker or tag at the end of a string of lights.
Some of the products have already been recalled. As more brands and retailers are identified, Health Canada will add them to its Consumer Product Update list.
If you have the lights, Health Canada urges you to stop using them immediately and follow the recall instructions listed on its website. Consumers should return the specific products to the place they bought them.
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