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WASHINGTON -- Two members of Congress have introduced legislation that would give companies that make helmets for young athletes nine months to improve safety standards.
If the companies failed to improve their standards, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) would be required to set standards aimed at reducing the number of brain injuries sustained by athletes under the age of 18.
The bill was introduced last week in the House by Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.). who is the co-founder and co-chairman of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force, and in the Senate by Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.). In September, the House passed Pascrell's Concussion Treatment and Care Tools Act, which would establish national protocols to manage sports-related concussions.
"We want our children to be active and athletic, but in the safest possible circumstances right down to the helmets they put on their heads," Pascrell said in a press release from the Kessler Foundation, a charity for people with physical and cognitive disability caused by injuries to the brain and spinal cord. "This bill is the logical next step in Congress' effort to protect our young athletes from brain injuries."
The bill would direct the CPSC to determine within nine months whether the voluntary safety standards for helmet-makers are adequate to result in reduction of the risk of injury. If the voluntary standards are found to be not good enough, the CPSC would have 30 days to set new standards for all football helmets that manufacturers would be required to follow. The bill also would require manufacturers to post warning labels on helmets noting their limited protection capabilities, a date of manufacture, and the date the helmet was last reconditioned.
The bill also would increase potential penalties for using false injury prevention claims to sell helmets and other sports equipment.
A football helmet's ability to protect athletes from injury declines over time as the helmet receives hits. Many football helmets are more than a decade old, the bill said.
Sports are the second leading cause of traumatic brain injury for Americans ages 15 to 24, according to the bill. Every year, 3.8 million U.S. athletes suffer sports-related concussions, and football is responsible for more concussions than any other sport.
According to the CPSC, more than 920,000 athletes under the age of 18 were treated for football-related injuries in 2007. Nearly 20% of all high school football players sustain a brain injury in any given football season, according to the bill's text.
According to a recent study, some high school football players can have neurological impairment without suffering a concussion. Because players without concussion symptoms will continue to participate in practices and games, that subgroup may be at risk for long-term neurodegeneration from repeated impacts to the head, even if no individual blow causes a concussion.
Some are now questioning the public health implications of permitting players younger than 18 to suit up. Around 20 football players who died relatively young have been found to have the brain changes associated with chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
On Feb. 17, Dave Duerson, former member of the Chicago Bears and a four-time Pro-Bowl safety, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at age 50. He shot himself in the abdomen after requesting that his brain be studied for evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which has become an increasing source of concern among professional athletes.
If the companies failed to improve their standards, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) would be required to set standards aimed at reducing the number of brain injuries sustained by athletes under the age of 18.
The bill was introduced last week in the House by Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.). who is the co-founder and co-chairman of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force, and in the Senate by Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.). In September, the House passed Pascrell's Concussion Treatment and Care Tools Act, which would establish national protocols to manage sports-related concussions.
"We want our children to be active and athletic, but in the safest possible circumstances right down to the helmets they put on their heads," Pascrell said in a press release from the Kessler Foundation, a charity for people with physical and cognitive disability caused by injuries to the brain and spinal cord. "This bill is the logical next step in Congress' effort to protect our young athletes from brain injuries."
The bill would direct the CPSC to determine within nine months whether the voluntary safety standards for helmet-makers are adequate to result in reduction of the risk of injury. If the voluntary standards are found to be not good enough, the CPSC would have 30 days to set new standards for all football helmets that manufacturers would be required to follow. The bill also would require manufacturers to post warning labels on helmets noting their limited protection capabilities, a date of manufacture, and the date the helmet was last reconditioned.
The bill also would increase potential penalties for using false injury prevention claims to sell helmets and other sports equipment.
A football helmet's ability to protect athletes from injury declines over time as the helmet receives hits. Many football helmets are more than a decade old, the bill said.
Sports are the second leading cause of traumatic brain injury for Americans ages 15 to 24, according to the bill. Every year, 3.8 million U.S. athletes suffer sports-related concussions, and football is responsible for more concussions than any other sport.
According to the CPSC, more than 920,000 athletes under the age of 18 were treated for football-related injuries in 2007. Nearly 20% of all high school football players sustain a brain injury in any given football season, according to the bill's text.
According to a recent study, some high school football players can have neurological impairment without suffering a concussion. Because players without concussion symptoms will continue to participate in practices and games, that subgroup may be at risk for long-term neurodegeneration from repeated impacts to the head, even if no individual blow causes a concussion.
Some are now questioning the public health implications of permitting players younger than 18 to suit up. Around 20 football players who died relatively young have been found to have the brain changes associated with chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
On Feb. 17, Dave Duerson, former member of the Chicago Bears and a four-time Pro-Bowl safety, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at age 50. He shot himself in the abdomen after requesting that his brain be studied for evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which has become an increasing source of concern among professional athletes.
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