Children's Items and Clothing required to be tested for Lead and Pthalates.

I am not sure if any of you are aware of this, but it is something that is near to my heart, and I find it incredibly frustrating. There is a new law that was passed in 2008 that will require lead and pthalate testing on ALL ITEMS marketed to kids. You would think that this is a GOOD thing, but it is seriously flawed. It is a retroactive law. All items that are sold in a resale shop (Goodwill, or even your local children's resale shop) must now be tested for Lead and Pthalates.... and this expense is the responsibility of the RESALE SHOP.

All moms that work from home and make handmade baby items, kids clothes, and diapers will now be required to have every single material or sewing notion tested by a private lab before they are able to sell their items. This will not only eliminate the ability of many moms to work from home, but also seriously limits the moms in the green community, who are more committed to organic and healthy toys and clothing, than almost every other toy manufacturer who outsources the manufacturing to other countries, like China.

The law even goes so far as to cover comic books, and books printed in past years, even if is a rare, or out of print book.... or the last copy of a children's book. "The manufacturer needs to provide a testing certificate to the retailer, which must be available for inspection, should a Consumer Product Safety Administration inspector come in. No certificate, the retailer can’t sell it. The truly bizarre part is that the new regulations apply retroactively. Even if it was printed 50 years ago and the publisher no longer exists, you need to have a certificate proving it’s not filled with lead. Even if it is the only remaining copy of a rare children’s book worth thousands of dollars and only will ever be handled by collectors, you cannot sell it because you can’t prove it is not filled with lead."

Here are a couple of links to check out:
Regarding how the law will affect book sellers and collectors
http://bookshopblog.com/2009/01/04/book-burning-on-feb-10th-2009-due-to-cpsia/

Article about the law affecting resale and initial sale of children's items and clothing:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/custom/consumer/la-fi-thrift2-2009jan02,0,5601821.story

Links to contact your congressmen and women to try to fix this law so that it is beneficial to families and resellers everywhere. https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

If you are still reading, thanks. It frustrates me that all the items that go through resale shops will end up in landfills instead of being reused by people who need them. I also think about how this will affect things like ebay sellers who sell their children's used toys and clothes.