we're talking about this on the arena, too.
here
my discussion has more to do with how to comply with the law... as some of you know, i make and sell children's items. so this law affects me in a completely different way.
i have been heavily involved in letter writing to congress, representatives, media and other outlets for the last couple months. we pulled together thousands of home based businesses and finally got our message out loud enough that people took notice.
we were granted a stay of enforcement and a year postponement for the testing. we were also given exemptions for most, not all textiles, natural materials and a few other items.
read th exemption list here
lead limits are important, and if the law was written in a way to punish for that, and only that, and phthalates, too... i suppose, then it'd be fine. but the way it's written, ALL UNTESTED merchandise is hazardous waste.
books, motorcycles, clothing, toys, cribs, EVERYTHING intended for children under 12.
EVERY THING.
before the stay was put into place, and exemptions for certain materials, we were looking at a much more serious issue, but people pulled together, big time.
if things had not changed, it would be illegal for you to GIVE your sister your baby's old crib, without testing it. otherwise, you'd have to dispose of it. understand, the law is not logically written... it doesn't exactly DO what it was meant to do. instead, it created literally billions of tons of waste, both new and used.
it would be illegal for a library to allow children under 12 into the library without first testing EVERY BOOK, intended for children. as it stands, no book published before 1985 may be passed to or sold to a child, without it first being tested. and that's the law, RIGHT NOW. all books published before 1985, are banned, until proven innocent.
resale stores were not exempted, at first. now, they don't have to test, but they have to tread VERY carefully.
this law is a knee-jerk reaction to cheap manufacturing in china... india, and other countries that either have no laws or ignore their laws. china has a strict lead standard, but they don't enforce it.
countries like germany and the UK, who have very strict standards have started to pull their items from our imports... we're losing american made, and other quality items because of this law. instead of doing what it intended, which was control poor quality imports [99 cent toys, etc] it's punishing quality items.
if we didn't get the stay, my monkeys, which are non-toxic and quality items would no longer be available for children. the testing was just too much... and passing the cost to test them, to you, for an item i already know is lead and phthalate free, because of the nature of textile production, would mean $2000+ monkeys.
the law is over reaching, and over regulating.
bottom line.
the one good thing it does do, is makes it a federal crime, as well as civil... to sell items with high lead content. it was civil before. it makes it illegal to resell recalled items, and it makes companies televise and publish recalls more predominately.
if you'd like to take action, write to your state reps, your state attorney general, congress [namely waxman] and even the president, tho i suspect he can't do much. bush opposed the bill, but it was veto proof... so he had no say in it's passing. it was overwhelmingly voted in.
there's an amendment in the works, H.R. 968... write your congressmen and reps and tell them you support it... it's logical, and it doesn't decrease safety... we're not trying to be exempted from the lead limits, we just want fair testing.
The House Committee of Energy and Commerce
i'm not on this site much, but, if you're on the arena, feel free to post any questions you have. i check that thread every other day... i've lived and breathed this law for months now.
