New safety rules for children's clothes have stores in a fit (Anti Lead Law)

The Los Angeles Times ^ | Jan 2, 2009 | Alana Semuels

[Question Liberal Authority]

Barring a reprieve, regulations set to take effect next month could force thousands of clothing retailers and thrift stores to throw away trunkloads of children's clothing.

The law, aimed at keeping lead-filled merchandise away from children, mandates that all products sold for those age 12 and younger -- including clothing -- be tested for lead and phthalates, which are chemicals used to make plastics more pliable. Those that haven't been tested will be considered hazardous, regardless of whether they actually contain lead.

"They'll all have to go to the landfill," said Adele Meyer, executive director of the National Assn. of Resale and Thrift Shops.

The new regulations take effect Feb. 10 under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which was passed by Congress last year in response to widespread recalls of products that posed a threat to children, including toys made with lead or lead-based paint.

[samtheman]

"The law introduces an extraordinarily large number of testing requirements for products for which everyone knows there's no lead," he said.

If we had any guts as a nation, a bunch of these scaliwags would be paraded around the streets of this country tarred, feathered and tied to a rail.

Lousy creeps.

Lousy filthy b@sta$rds.

[samtheman]

"We really provide a service to the community to help people get clothes for their children they otherwise couldn't afford," she said.

If we had a free press in this country...

[goosie]

I read about this several weeks ago and it was said that if the thread makers and the fabric makers were certified by testing (by govt. approved testing companies) that this was not acceptable by the law. Each item made had to have a complete example tested. This is a long drawn out procedure.

[MrB]

There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.

Rand

[samtheman]

That’s why we need a revolution. And I’m not just reacting to this clothing fiasco when I say that. The whole structure of government micro-dictating everyone’s lives has to be torn down.

[chris_bdba]

Yep this is really a bad law that this last ongress passed! The way it is written it puts anyone who makes anything by hand for kids out of buisness even the big manufacturesers are screaming about this!

[MrB]

oh, it WILL crash.

Remember that we are just visitors here, this is NOT our real home. We are in the realm of the Enemy.

This latest election has made me realize what that actually means.

A drunk will continue to make self destructive choices until he dies or hits bottom and elects for salvation.

[Uncle Hal]

The inmates are running the insane asylum.

[ScreamingFist]

Sell them back to China at a HUGE discount. Let them worry about it.

Sell them back? Why would China buy them back? And do some reading, this law covers everything all the way down to lead in the valve stems of bicycles.

[Voltage]

Just how are they supposed to enforce this?

Trial lawyers will be happy to handle this for a cut of the lawsuit against the used clothing store.

[afraidfortherepublic]

There is a Welsh variant of the Italian calzone that includes a bread "handle". The miners handled only that "handle" when eating the stew stuffed bread, then tossed away the "handle". Even then they were quite aware of the consequence of consuming lead.

And would that be called a "pastie"? A very popular food in Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula, thought to have been brought here by Welsh miners.

[Myrddin]

The Welsh call them "oggies". The ones I've seen had a bigger crimp. In Cornwall, the tin miners referred to them as pasties. Tin mines often contain arsenic, thus the same pattern of holding the crimped edge and discarding it was employed.

[TChris]

Haven't a number of studies proven that lead is not a problem unless it is ingested or inhaled?

I suppose there's a small amount of lead in clothing that could be ingested if a child chewed on his clothes, but it can't be very much.

It's more FUD-driven (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) "just in case" lunacy.

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY

1) Don't just do something, stand there!
2) Think.
3) Learn the facts.
4) Act act according to the best of your understanding of the facts.

[reed13]

Any toxic substance must have 3 things: Amount/strength/level of toxicity, time, and contact method or exposure. Same applies to radioactive material.

For lead I believe it the contact method for significant impact is through ingestion.

[EBH]

Maybe or maybe not depending on the amount of material in question. There are exemptions in the regulations for small businesses. The draw back is they will still have to have the stuff tested for lead in order to dispose of it legally. Lead-contaminated wastes with TCLP levels at or above 5 parts per million lead are defined as hazardous and must be handled and disposed of in conformance with hazardous waste laws and regulations(Your state may be different).

Advantage is at the consumer level, they can toss it in the trash without federal restrictions. So the ‘garage sale’ folks can simply throw the questionable materials away.