**** Health Canada Release

Issue

Millions of Canadians enjoy using their barbecues, especially during the warm summer months. Through repeated use, the metal bristle brushes that many people use to clean their barbecue grills can lose their bristles. If accidentally ingested, these metal bristles can cause serious health problems.

What you should do

To minimize the risk of issues with your metal bristle barbecue brush, you should:

• regularly inspect your brush for signs of damage;
• inspect grills and barbecued food for loose metal bristles;
• regularly replace your brush to help avoid problems associated with wear; and
• stop using your brush if bristles come loose or stick to the grill.

What Health Canada is doing

Health Canada and the Retail Council of Canada have commissioned the Standards Council of Canada to develop a voluntary safety standard for barbecue brushes, including metal bristle brushes. The voluntary safety standard will establish ways to reduce the risk that loose bristles will cause injuries to Canadians by defining safety criteria, such as labelling and testing, for these products. A public review of the draft voluntary safety standard is expected to start this summer. The draft National Standard of Canada for barbecue brushes will be published on the CSA Group’s website for 60 days for public review and comment.

Health Canada continues to monitor this issue and will take action as required.

Report health or safety concerns

Health Canada advises consumers to check the Government of Canada’s Recalls and Safety Alerts website regularly for any recalled products and to report any consumer product-related health or safety concerns