Consumer Law

The ?Safety Nanny? Responds

By Andy Hoffman

Well, well, well.  Who knew our little post supporting the landmark Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) would generate so many, shall we say, riled-up comments.  (Although being deemed a ?Safety Nanny? doesn?t exactly sound like a diss.  I?d sure love to have one of those looking after my kid.)

Anyway, here?s one of our favorites comments: ?If there is any justice in the world, those groups that advocated for this law ? will all rot in hell.?  And you wonder why we aren?t listing comments to our post?

We would like to address a couple points, however.  One commenter complains, ?you are kidding? aren't you? How many children are killed by lead in toys ??? They should stop selling cigarettes not used clothes and toys.?

OK, you?re (partly) right.  400,000 deaths a year from cigarettes is just intolerable.  As for lead, no wonder this question gets asked, given the disturbingly little (if any) concern about the reason for the law?s passage in the first place?the obvious need to prevent permanent brain damage in children due to lead poisoning from toys.

Still not a problem?  Here?s an article from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune from December, 2008:

Holiday toy-shopping stress is sure to ratchet up with a new report on toxic toys issued today. Nearly one-third of the popular toys tested contain medium to high levels of lead, cadmium, mercury or other potentially dangerous chemicals, according to the Michigan-based Ecology Center. Toy jewelry figures prominently on the ?Worst Toys List.'

Toxic toys have particular meaning in Minnesota. Two years ago, a 4-year-old Minneapolis boy died after swallowing a heart-shaped charm made almost entirely of lead. His death, followed by recalls of millions of toys in 2007, many of them containing lead and imported from China, prompted Congress to pass toy safety legislation as part of the Consumer Protection Product Safety Improvement Act last summer.

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Lead remains widespread in toys, said Jeff Gearhart, research director for the project, including those manufactured in the United States. Lead is a powerful neurotoxin that can delay development, lower IQ and in rare cases lead to death. It was detected in 20 percent of the toys tested this year, which included action figures, art materials, building sets, crib toys, dolls, games, jewelry, rattles and teethers, stuffed toys, trains and other products. About 80 percent of the 3 billion toys sold in the United States each year come from China, Gearhart said, but lead and other chemicals were also detected in toys made in the United States and elsewhere.

Then we received a number of comments from small businesses pleading with us ? ThePopTort ? to support changes in the law or regulations.  Some of these suggestions might be perfectly reasonable.  As we?ve said, Congress has already started addressing this, and there will no doubt be additional modifications.  

That?s because the law includes mechanisms for legitimate exclusions for those who are unable to comply.  The new administration must stop dragging its feet and appoint a new Consumer Product Safety Commission Chair immediately, so someone at that agency can start dealing with this. 

And finally, we just have to note that at the time this law was being drafted, none of its opponents ever raised these concerns.  Had they done so, no doubt they would have been worked into the law?s final version, which many from both parties worked on for months!

So, to all the small businesses out there, take up your concerns with the law?s original opponents, who are trying to use your issue to fuel a high-voltage publicity campaign to scrap the entire law.  That includes the ultra-conservative Manhattan Institute, whose opposition is so extreme that it even extends to the law?s whistleblower protections (and they?re still complaining about them! ).  This kind of unreasonable approach isn?t going to get anyone anywhere, and it doesn?t sound like the position of most of the people we?ve heard from. 

Having said that...thanks everyone, for reading ThePopTort!

Full post as published by ThePopTort on January 29, 2009 (boomark / email).