As an answer to the recent lead scares and recalls of numerous children's products and toys the past few years, congress passed a new safety statute last August titled the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA).  As moms, we may be familiar with this legislature and the the controversy it has created.

Basically this new law mandates testing of all new children's products (including clothing and books) to insure they meet all lead content requirements.  On the surface, this sounds like a great idea and a way to keep the manufacturers accountable for selling only safe products for our kids.  But many small business owners believe this is not the solution for all and have begun a grass roots effort to amend these new regulations. 

The smaller manufacturers, some of them just work out of they're homes and have no employees, claim that these new mandated tests will simply be too costly for them to stay in business.  Many of them state that their products are all natural and will continue to be so.

Currently, the Consumer Product Safety Comission is hearing comments regarding the testing for smaller companies until January 30th, but no one knows if any changes will be made.   To find out more about the hand made children's manufacturers efforts and what you can do to help, check out this post on Cool Mom Picks.

There has also been some confusion on whether or not this new law will effect resellers of children's goods.  According to an update on the CPSIA website, this will not be the case.  Resellers do not need to test products in their inventory, but are also held accountable not to sell anything that does not meet the new lead standards.  Therefore, they don't have to test the toys and cloths, but need to be aware of products that may contain too much lead, and refuse to sell such items.

Share your thoughts on these new regulations!

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