the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which goes into effect in February, was intended to improve the safety of children's toys, and other items intended for use with kids, after the series of lead-paint recalls in recent years. among other things, the CPSIA bans lead and phthalates in children's products, mandates third party testing and certification, and requires manufacturers of all goods for children under the age of 12, to permanently label each item with a date and batch number.
sounds great, right?
the problem with the CPSIA is that the only companies who will be able to afford the testing, and the inclusion of batch labels, are the big companies whose irresponsible manufacturing practices caused this mess to begin with.
smaller companies that have been producing quality, handmade toys free of toxins (like the ones bebe is playing with in all these pictures), will likely be forced out of business. european manufacturers, who have likewise been producing toxin-free toys all along, will stop importing to the US.
the small local toy shops (like our favorite,
hatched in JP) that have been making these products available to concerned parents will have to close once their suppliers go out of business.
and that's not all. the CPSIA will also make the sale, or donation to charities, of used baby gear, toys, and even children's clothing illegal. this will have an enormous impact on the many, many families who depend on secondhand items and will also result in many more thousands of tons of (perfectly usable) "trash" being dumped in our landfills.
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