The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, also known as CPSIA is a new law that will go into effect February 10, 2009. The law was created to protect children from lead and phthalates that have made their way into our country recently. The law sounds like a wonderful thing, protect our children from harms way by enforcing stricter laws for testing children’s items for lead and phthalates.
So what does lead and phthalates do to our children? What’s the big deal? Children being exposed to low levels can cause mental problems, retardation, depression or a number of other illnesses. When exposed to higher levels, children can begin to have problems with their nervous system or organ problems.
The problem with the law is that it includes all items created for children aged 12 and under. This includes toys, clothing, shoes, books, hair bows, bedding, furniture and anything else you could possibly think is sold for a child. So what is the big problem, make the companies get testing for their products, right? Wrong. The problem is each material used to make an item must be tested. For example, clothing, consisting of fabric, thread, buttons, applique. Each item needs to be tested individually. This may not cause a big problem for the larger companies, although it may raise prices somewhat. The person it effects is the small business. A small business may not be able to afford the testing for each item. February 10, 2009 has been named “National Bankruptcy Day” due to the large amount of small businesses that would have to shut down.
Doing a search on Etsy, which is a site full of homemade items for sale, I found many of the shops closing and having going out of business sales because they will not be able to legally sell their items after February 10. People have begun placing items for sale with the price they would have to charge with all of the testing. For example, I found an I-Spy bag, which normally would be sold for about $20, but with the testing, the price goes up to $20,160. This breaks down to $70 for lead testing and an additional $350 per component for phthalates testing of the 40 trinkets, fleece, thread, vinyl, poly pellets, ring, ribbon, card stock and laminating paper.
This is also effecting resale stores. With the economy the way that it stands, many people can only clothe their children by shopping at resale stores. If amendments are not made to this law, many may have to go out of business. The following clarification was released on January 9, 2009, regarding the resale of items made prior to February 10, 2009.
The new safety law does not require resellers to test children’s products in inventory for compliance with the lead limit before they are sold. However, resellers cannot sell children’s products that exceed the lead limit and therefore should avoid products that are likely to have lead content, unless they have testing or other information to indicate the products being sold have less than the new limit. Those resellers that do sell products in violation of the new limits could face civil and/or criminal penalties.
So what does this mean? Well basically, resale stores will not need to test all of their inventory, however if they sell an item that does exceed the limit, they will be held responsible and could face charges.
What can you do about this? There has been a lot of buzz about this topic, especially from the work-at-home mothers and fathers that make items and sell them on Etsy, eBay or their own websites. This will also effect items that are sold throughout craft fairs. With this new law, you will no longer be able buy that crochet afghan at the craft fair or log onto eBay and buy a cute little outfit for your child. To express your concerns, you may use this preform letter by the Handmade Toy Alliance, along with signing their petition. Send your concerns to your congressmen and senators.
