American baby care products are not as safe as consumers may expect. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics released a report on 48 baby care products that were tested for the carcinogens formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane. The March 2009 report, entitled “No More Toxic Tub”, reveals that 67 percent of the products tested contained detectable levels of 1,4-dioxane. 82 percent of the products tested contained detectable levels of formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane. And 61 percent of products tested contained both.
Of the 48 products tested, only 28 were tested for formaldehyde. So there’s a chance that if all products had been tested for both, the percentage of products contaminated with both could be higher than 61 percent.
The State of California classifies both chemicals as carcinogens under its Proposition 65 “The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986” passed in 1986. Both were listed as carcinogens on January 1, 1988. The US EPA regards both as probable carcinogens.
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Among the many repercussions of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) is the banning of lead components inside of products that aren’t likely to have any health effect on children, at least not from the lead. Among them are motor sports products for kids, including ATVs and kid-sized dirt bikes and motorcycles. These products use lead in the engines, batteries, and other internal components. Therefore, they are now banned products that cannot be sold in the United States as of February 10, 2009.
The Motorcycle Industry Council estimates that the CPSIA ban on these products will cause economic losses of $1 billion in 2009 alone. The ban affects products that have lead contents above 600ppm, but that is a moving target with the goal heading down towards 100ppm limits over time. Many motorsports dealers now have substantial inventories of products intended for children they can no longer sell legally.
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(Click here for more coverage of CPSIA.)
With the February 10, 2009, start of enforcement of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 just 3 days away, we are relieved to see that the Consumer Product Safety Commissions has issued a press release outlining exceptions for children’s books printed using ordinary processes from 1985 onwards and for children’s clothing manufactured using natural fibers.
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(Click here for more coverage of CPSIA.)
The February 10, 2009, start of enforcement of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 is just two weeks away, yet the US federal government is still irresponsibly failing to correct the interpretations of the law to avoid shutting down access children’s books in libraries and even school text books.
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(Click here for more coverage of CPSIA.)
The February 10, 2009, start of enforcement of the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act of 2008 continues to draw closer as the US federal government still has its head stuck in the sand regarding the mess the law is about to make.
On January 22, 2009, the book publishing industry met with the Consumer Products Safety Commission to give them evidence of 150 test results from finished children’s books to show that lead is not a reasonable concern for such items. But there is still no indication of what CPSC will do about the matter, if anything.
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(Click here for our complete coverage of CPSIA.)
With the days ticking away without meaningful clarification or reform of CPSIA (Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008), there’s not a lot of “real news” to report. So we thought we’d feed you some links to the thoughts of others on this dysfunctional legislation.
CPSC: Letter to Association of American Publishers on December 23, 2008
Consumer Reports: Toymakers and resellers raise concerns over new safety regulations
Wall Street Journal: Pelosi’s Toy Story
Mom-Based Garment Industry May Be Hardest Hit By New Safety Regs
(Click here for our complete coverage of CPSIA.)
The book publishing industry is joining the American Library Association in questioning the wisdom and intent of applying CPSIA lead and phthalate standards to children’s books. The American Association of Publishers (AAP) and Children’s Book Council (CBC) are among the groups starting to lobby the Senate and House to clarify and/or revise CPSIA to exempt conventionally printed hardcover and paperback books.
Many children’s books have already moved to soy-based organic inks. There is little or no evidence of lead or phthalates being a problem in older inks or in paper, cardboard, and glues used for printing most books. While the industry agrees that specialty books that have plastic and metal parts might warrant testing according to CPSIA limits, it strongly disagrees with the necessity of such testing for conventional books books printed on paper and cardboard.
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(Click here for our complete coverage of CPSIA.)
Our previous posts on the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) have brought up the legal and financial risks faced by resellers of used and new children’s clothing, toys, and other products. These appear to extend to private sellers on eBay and Craigslist as well as to consignment stores and charity/resale organizations such as Goodwill Industries. We’ve also mentioned problem faced by libraries and home business and small business children’s product manufacturers for which testing costs may be prohibitive. They may be forced to stop loaning out existing children’s books already in their collections for years and selling safe products simply because of the risks and costs of this law.
As we continue to review information and discussion about CPSIA and the text of the law itself, it’s clear there is a lot of confusion about this law. The American Library Association admits after getting everybody alarmed that it doesn’t understand the law and how it will impact libraries in its post Children’s Books and the CPSIA – STANDBY – Situation Fluid.
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(Click here for our complete coverage of CPSIA.)
Unless the US government acts soon, on February 10, 2009, life as we know it in the United States may become extremely bizarre. Imagine a nation in which it is illegal for:
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Children age 12 and under to enter libraries or attend schools or daycare facilities unless those schools and daycare facilities have no books or toys.
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Books and toys for children age 12 and under can only be sold by mass-merchants because home and small businesses and manufacturers cannot afford the testing costs to verify paper, cardboard, glue, and other components do not have illegal levels of lead.
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Only major publishers running huge print-runs can print children’s books because only they can afford the testing costs.
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If you can find anybody willing to risk selling you a used children’s book, either they will be criminals or buying a used children’s book will cost upwards of $150 per title because each book will have to be individually tested for lead and phthalates.
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Tens of thousands of US home and small businesses which have made a major portion of their sales from children’s products go out of business and file for bankruptcy as their inventories go from having value to being worthless because they cannot be sold.
This is all due to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. The new law requires that products intended for use by children ages 12 and under must meet new standards for lead and phthalate content or they cannot be sold starting February 10, 2009. The law does not have any grandfather provisions for products made prior to February 10, 2009. It apparently affects all products intended for use by children age 12 and under. And it is being interpreted as affecting operations that sell, lend, or allow the use of children’s products by children ages 12 and under.
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(Click here for our complete coverage of CPSIA.)
As reported last week (see Government Bans Sale of Used Children’s Clothing and Toys !?!), the impending enforcement of the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act of 2008 starting on February 10, 2009, will change the landscape for children’s clothing and toy sales in the United States. New 600ppm limits on lead will be enforced immediately, and those limits will be lowered to 300ppm and next to 100ppm. Phthalates used to soften plastics must comprise less than 0.1% of the product content. Sellers must be able to show the items they are selling have passed safety tests for lead and phtalate content or they cannot sell the products. The new regulations pertain to products intended for use by children age 12 and under.
A major criticism of this law has been the negative impact on the resale of used children’s clothing and toys. Many consignment shops and charity organizations sell such items, and parents are able to get back some of the value of toys and clothes their children have outgrown. There have been widespread complaints that the new law has the potential to put such businesses out of business.
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