Trustworthy Toys: Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act
This month, Congress is cracking the whip when it comes to toxins in children’s products. Thanks to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), little ones now have greater protection from exposure to dangerous substances. As of February 10th, all items made for young children must be tested for levels of lead as well as a group of toxic chemicals known as phthalates. The new standards under the CPSIA are great for our children, but they’ve also led to complaints from small manufacturers who feel threatened by the high cost of laboratory testing. We’ll keep you updated on the risks and benefits of this important act in the following weeks.
– Sara, KIWI intern and advocate of trustworthy toys
Tags: children's products, CPSIA, toxins, toys
March 16th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Well said, finally a good report on this stuff
March 23rd, 2009 at 3:14 am
I’ve read also that the cpsc is recommending all books published before 1985 be destroyed due to lead content in printing ink. Not only is this putting libraries in a tailspin, it is causing vintage book enthusiasts and sellers major stress. Some of these sellers have thousands of books in their collections. This will run them out of business and wipe out an incredibly significant portion of our history. The perceived risk seems not great enough to warrant such an expedient destruction of our heritage. Printers ink does not flake off a book’s pages like lead paint flakes off a window sill or toy.