New safety rules trouble libraries, more

With new guidelines concerning phthalates and lead limits in children’s products as of Feb. 10, 2009, it is now clear what is considered safe in such products and what is not. Well, it should be.

“The law is as clear as mud,” said Marshall Sherman, vice president of risk management at Goodwill of Delaware and Delaware’s count for the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). “Everyone is looking for further direction as far as re-sale about how to handle the products.”

Under the CPSIA, as of Feb. 10, children’s toys and items related to child care that are sold in the United States cannot contain more than 0.1 percent of six different phthalates (DEHP, DBP, BBP, DINP, DIDP and DnOP), regardless of when they were manufactured.

The CPSIA’s limit for lead is 600 parts per million (ppm) for children’s metal jewelry and will been lowered to 90 ppm for paint as of August of this year. Total lead content is limited to 300 ppm as of August of this year and will drop to 100 ppm (if technologically feasible) by August of 2011. And a court decision regarding phthalate limits, issued Feb. 5, 2009, applies the law to products presently in sellers’ inventory, as well.

Phthalates are a group of liquid chemicals that help to make vinyl and other plastics soft and flexible. But, according to the plaintiffs’ “statement of undisputed material facts” and the Dec. 9, 2008, declaration of Dr. Sarah Janssen, taken from the Feb. 5 court decision, these chemicals also are responsible for several toxic affects, including, but not limited, to interference with the steroid sex hormones, including testosterone, interference with reproductive hormones, sperm quality, infertility and testicular cancer in boys; and, in girls, alterations of the female sex hormones, early puberty, pregnancy loss and the growth of human breast cancer cells.

Section 108 of the CPSIA is titled “Prohibition on sale of certain products containing specified phthalates” and works to establish a framework for the federal regulation of children’s toys and child-care products containing phthalates.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), a children’s toy is defined as a product that is intended for a child younger than 12 for use when playing, with exceptions for things such as bikes, playground equipment, musical instruments and sporting goods.

“Child-care articles’ include products intended for a child under 3 to aid in sleeping, feeding or sucking. For example, pacifiers, teethers, sippy cups and crib mattresses,” the new rules note.

As of Feb. 10, 2009, companies must meet reporting obligations for these chemicals and tell the CPSC if they know of a toy or product that exceeds the new phthalate limits. The CPSCIA also generally prohibits the export for sale of products that exceed the limits.

Those requirements, while championed in theory by advocates of safe toys and childcare advocates, unleashed a firestorm of concern when their impact on the manufacturers of handmade toys, second-hand shops/sellers and libraries were recognized. Some small toy manufacturers and second-hand dealers have even shut down their businesses, or prepared to do so, in light of the potential cost of testing their inventory for legal sale under the new rules.

Seller communities on Etsy.com, which specializes in handmade goods of all varieties – many created and sold by home-based businesses – and eBay, which is frequently used for re-sale of items by home-based businesses, mobilized in opposition to the implementation of the new rules as the prohibitive costs of testing and screening safe, legal children’s items under the CPSIA were considered.

They argue that the new rules were targeted at large-scale manufacturing and importing of toys such as the lead-laden items manufactured in China and recalled by U.S. authorities in recent years, not at small manufacturers who produce small batches of products or one-of-a-kind items and those who re-sell individual used items. The costs of testing a single toy are estimated to be in the range of thousands of dollars – affordable for a large company with a large production run, but not for the small business selling many unique items.

As a compromise measure, as of Jan. 30, 2009, the commission granted a stay of testing and certification requirements for certain products for manufacturers and importers for both the lead and phthalates limits. Manufacturers and importers do not need to test their products until Feb. 10, 2010, but they will still need to meet the lead and phthalates requirements, mandatory toy standards and other requirements.

What about books?

The stay also lets places like libraries – many of which lobbied under their umbrella organization the American Library Association (ALA) to comment against including libraries in the statute — breathe easy for another year. Their argument was that libraries would be forced to “remove all their children’s books or ban all children under 12 from visiting the facilities as of Feb. 10,” and that, since libraries do not produce or distribute books, they should be exempt from the law.

Books that are printed after 1985 that are considered “ordinary children’s books” are not affected by the statute. “Ordinary children’s books” means they are meant strictly for reading and they are not the baby “bath” books that come in a soft plastic or books with any type of toy attached.

Sue Keefe, director of the South Coastal Library, said many of the children’s books the library has now are from after 1985, anyway, and would thus be exempt from the new rules. Carol Fitzgerald, county librarian for the Sussex County Department of Libraries, is now keeping up-to-date with the ever-changing news from the CPSC and the ALA.

So, how about thrift stores?

Thrift and second-hand stores, on the other hand, have a messier predicament. Do they refuse donations or throw everything out that is for children and is plastic or vinyl or produced before Feb. 10, 2009?

Goodwill’s Sherman said they are not exactly taking a “wait and see” approach, to see how the statute fans once the kinks are ironed out. Rather, they are being proactive in doing what they can to be compliant and to educate the consumer.

“We are doing our best-faith effort to make sure no items get to consumers that shouldn’t,” he said. “We inspect them and follow all the recalls. We have a book of all recalled items by each register. We are looking for more guidelines, and we recognize there will be further developments, but we are being as proactive as we can.”

“It’s an excellent idea,” he added, of the law. “It has good intentions, just with unintended consequences. It could be a lot clearer that it is.”

The Atlantic Community Thrift Store (ACTS) on Route 26 in Clarksville is more on the fence regarding the new law, as they do not yet have a formal approach to how they are handling it.

“We get toys in all conditions,” noted volunteer Richard Balormeister “We have no way of knowing, but my wife and I look at recalls daily. We take hardly any more toys lately.”

Thrift stores are exempt from the testing and certification process. But, like all retailers and resellers, they cannot knowingly sell products that do not meet the requirements of the law. It is illegal to sell any recalled products (for adults and children’s products). Stores (and consumers) can check the CPSC Web site, or sign up for e-mail updates to be kept in the loop regarding the most up-to-date list of recalled items.

The CPSC has guidelines for resellers that include items that are safe to sell and items that are more questionable. “OK to sell” includes books, if printed after 1985; unpainted or untreated toys, soft plastic toys for infants if they are manufactured after Feb. 10, 2009, dyed or un-dyed children’s clothing made from natural, untreated cotton, silk, wool, hemp, flax, linen or other untreated material, and precious metals such as gold, silver and some precious and semi-precious gemstones.

Items that should be avoided include toys that are easily breakable into small parts; clothes with rhinestones, metal or vinyl snaps, zippers or closures; cheap children’s jewelry and painted wooden or metal toys.

Richard Faull of All Saints’ Parish Thrift Shop in Rehoboth Beach said that they are trying to keep up to the minute on what the law entails and have even posted a list of items that people should destroy and that they will not sell unless further clarification from CPSC is received. Their list also includes information on items that are still considered OK, such as the clothing made of natural fibers, products of untreated wood and children’s books printed after 1985.

Even though they question how the new law will be enforced, they say the idea is a good one and their mantra is “better safe than sorry.”

“We are erring on the side of the kids,” said Faull.

For more information on the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, or to receive up-to-the-minute additions or changes, or to get e-mail updates on specific recalls, visit www.cpsc.gov online. Guidance for small businesses, resellers, crafters and charities can be found at http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/smbus/cpsiasbguide.html.