WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) opened a state-of-the-art scientific testing facility in Rockville, MD.

"Today's opening marks a new day in consumer safety," said CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum. "This center will enhance CPSC's ability to protect families and consumers from harm by expanding CPSC's testing capabilities, increasing the efficiency of agency staff and equipment, and allowing more testing to be done faster."

The new 63,000-square-foot testing center will bring together 75 scientists and engineers who previously worked at the CPSC's headquarters in Bethesda, MD, and in nine buildings at the agency's former laboratory site in Gaithersburg, MD. The lab has been furnished with new equipment, including  an ATV tilt table that will measure ATV road stability, and test chambers to conduct mattress flammability testing and carbon monoxide alarm testing, expanding CPSC's in-house testing capabilities.

Among its efforts to be "green," the facility uses 95 percent of recycled wood cabinetry from the previous lab.

Posted by Rich Christianson