Library May Ban Children's Book to Comply with New Anti-Lead Law

Remember our post about the new Consumer Product Safety Act that will make it illegal to sell children's products unless they were tested for lead and phthalates?

Besides threatening to put local artisans and small businesses who can't afford the test (at $4,000 a pop), the law has another unintendend consequence: library may ban children's books in order to comply:

The Consumer Product Safety Act was passed by Congress Aug. 14 in reaction to findings that some toys imported from China contained dangerous levels of lead. President Bush signed the legislation, which includes stricter limits on lead levels in children's products.

The American Library Association said it fears the law has unintended consequences, and libraries may face the choice of closing their children's sections, banning children under the age of 12 or completing expensive lead testing for every book. [...]

This unintended consequence of the new law isn't the first to rear its head since Congress passed it. A flurry of complaints from second-hand retailers afraid of being bankrupted by the new requirements prompted the commission to release a clarification on Jan. 8 stating the law doesn't require all children's items to be tested.

However, it does make it illegal to distribute any children's item that exceeds the lead limits, said Consumer Product Safety Commission spokesman Joseph Martyak. Though libraries, schools, and thrift shops aren't required to test books for lead, they could face civil or criminal penalties if a book with an elevated lead level leaves its shelves.

http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200901282258/NEWS01/90128041 - Thanks Tiffany!


What is the world coming to? Maybe this is some sort of covert economic stimulus plan gone awry.

I wonder if there are any carbon neutral alternatives to book burning!
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Yes! We need to make sure our children aren't exposed to all of that lead! We need to leave room for all of the other carcinogens and toxins that we ingest daily from everday items!
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I defy ANYONE to name one case of a Fatal lead poisoning in the US in the last 35 years that involved a minor.

Sure, lead has some effects on intelligence but not reading books is more detrimental to a greater population.

Once again Bush making sure everyone in the US is as stupid as his family.
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Oh I'm sorry, There seems to be one case that is 29 years old.

http://egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/portalContentItemAction.do?blockName=Health%2f1999%2fI+Want+To&deptMainCategoryOID=-536887965&channelId=0&programId=0&entityName=Health&topChannelName=Dept&contentOID=536919218&Failed_Reason=Invalid+timestamp,+engine+has+been+restarted&contenTypeName=COC_EDITORIAL&com.broadvision.session.new=Yes&Failed_Page=%2fwebportal%2fportalContentItemAction.do&context=dept

At extremely high levels, lead poisoning can cause coma, convulsions or death. Despite the number of children affected by lead in Chicago, the city has not had a lead poisoning fatality since 1980.

BOOGA BOOOGA!!!!!!
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My wife was preparing to close down her business due to this law, then today the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a one-year stay of enforcement for this law. Now maybe congress can take a closer look at the economic impact of this ridiculous law and correct their own mistake before it ruins thousands of small businesses in America.
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Two things:

1) This is not something you can pin on Bush. This was sponsored and babied through by the most liberal elements of the Democratic party. It is not a reflection of Bush, but on how moronic the whole political establishment is.

2) Beyond blog comments, I hope everyone has contacted their representatives asking for an exemption for small and thrift shops.
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A good example of the unintended consequences of good intentions. Congress passed the law, and Bush signed it. Neither branch of government is without blame, but to give both credit, who would've thought? I tend to agree with Mikeeeey--lead may be the least of our worries, as we drink water infused with discarded medications recycled by our water plants, eat beef fed on who knows what besides growth hormones, snack on peanut butter crackers... Well, you get the drift!
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I recently bought a comic book (in France) and was surprised to see it printed in China instead of France or Belgium, 2 historic comic book printers countries.

Anything stopping China from attacking markets with social dumping seems fair to me.
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If they want us to get rid of those evil lead filled books, why not comply??? Ill simply get out my Brown shirt, Charlie Chaplain mustache & Red Armband with the white circle Swashtica on it & star burning Childerns copies of the Torah, Winnie the pooh, & lots of other Jewish & non-Jewish childrens books, while notifying the Local Press & inviting the press of a local book burning. As new & downloaded Copies of Mein Kampf & the Communist manifesto are OK & but old children's copies of the Torah & Winnie the pooh are not I cant get over the Irony of what these MORONS are doing with this new law. Or that I have seen it all somewhere before in newsreels of what went on in Germany Back in 1939.
It reminds me of that ever so timely quote, "Where one burns books, one eventually burns bodies.... "
It does however offer us the opportunity to use INCREDIBLY bad Taste & Sarcasm when complying ;^)
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