Are All Gently Used Children's Items Destined for the Dump?

photo by D'Arcy NormanI was catching up on my news late last night and ran across this article in the LA times. Apparently on Feb. 10, 2009 a new law, Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, will go into effect. The law, meant to protect children from lead and phthalates, requires any seller of products for children 12 and under to test for these toxins. If they are not tested, they are considered hazardous and destined for the landfill.

If you are someone concerned about child safety, this seems to make sense, that is, until you consider that the law includes ALL types of items (e.g. clothes and toys) and is retroactive (includes not only new items to the market, but also all existing inventory already on the market). In reality, this would encompass used items made prior to February 10th that are for resell. As the reporter in the original article points out, this means that second-hand, thrift, and consignment stores would be required to test all of children's items, including clothes, and that this testing is quite costly and unfeasible for most of these retailers.

The ramifications seem very widespread:

• Charitable thrift stores no longer able to fill the ever growing need of providing low cost children's products.
• Privately owned consignment shops specializing in children's items going out of business.
• Business owners left with loans and banks left with collateral on goods that are untested and thus are worthless in the marketplace.
• Creative, productive entrepreneurs, like those on Etsy.com, who make wonderful handmade children's items not being able to sell their wares.
• A smaller market for families to sell or consign their used items.
• The potential for charities that don't resell the items, but instead put them to use, to stop accepting these donations out of fear of litigation based on this law.
• Lots of generous people at a loss of what to do with gently used items that they would normally donate.
• Depending on how broad the interpretation, the possibility that individuals will no longer be able to lawfully sell untested items in garage sells, on eBay, etc.
• And then there are the tons and tons of perfectly usable products going to straight to the landfill.

I am all for strong safety regulations for the products that our children use. I have been known to rattle off alarming statistics of the number of injuries related to certain products to unsuspecting grandparents, caregivers, and other parents. But, from what I have read, this law is too broad. Now, what I envision are the potential statistics of the number of children going without basic necessities, the dollars associated with loss of income or even jobs, and the increase in unnecessary additions to our landfills.

Ironically, as a consumer who has recently spent more time researching and sometimes more money buying products that are natural, or organic, or locally made (in reaction to safety and environmental concerns), my choices may be much slimmer after February 10th.

Comments

[Necessities Consignment]

Hopefully the government will get this right. My shop has been in operation for 20 years, and I know first hand the needs of my customers, and children's clothing is needed. I would be open to taking a course to qualify for being able to approve the right clothing so my customers would not be denied this right to save. Many people are enraged by the whole topic.