New lead testing rules set to take effect Feb. 10 have local book sellers, toy retailers, crafters and even libraries scrambling to understand how the rules apply to them.
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act imposes stringent new lead testing rules on all products made for children 12 and under. The regulations affect businesses that sell items and covers libraries, which lend out books to children. The impact of the new law, especially in terms of children’s books, is vague, leaving local booksellers, libraries and even schools trying to interpret its meaning and figure out how to comply, and at what cost.
The lead testing regulations were signed into law in August 2008 as a response to the massive recalls involving mostly Chinese-made toys containing lead in 2007. The new rules require all books, toys and handmade crafts be tested for lead, regardless of where they’re manufactured.
Click here to read the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.
• Click here to read the Etsy CPSIA “action kit.”
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Lead testing is especially important if you are pregnant and/or have children. Glasses with cartoon characters painted on them, painted plates, lunchboxes, crayons, chalk, stickers and toys can all contain unsafe levels of lead. |
x-ray fluorescence Mar 25, 2009 |
