FAQs on the Children's Safe Products Act of 2008
FAQs on the Children's Safe Products Act of 2008
updated 2/29/08
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1. Why is it important to pass the Children’s Safe Products Act?
- Huge gaps exist in federal laws regulating toxic chemicals in children’s products. The only federal regulation for toxic chemicals in toys is the 30-year old lead in paint standard that was developed when scientists still believed that a moderate amount of lead was safe for kids. Because there are no laws regulating lead in other toy materials, such as plastic and vinyl, many toys and other products currently on store shelves have lead in them in high amounts and are legal. In addition to lead, other chemicals known to do harm to children, like phthalates and cadmium, are commonly found in children’s items like toys, personal care products, car seats, and baby bibs.
- The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission has fallen down on the job and doesn’t have the authority to adequately protect kids. Because of the failure of the CPSC to do its job, over 17 million toys have been recalled in the last six months because of lead paint. The CPSC has no legal authority to test children’s products before sale. Recalls are mainly voluntary and rarely happen unless a company alerts the agency of a problem.
- Washington state should continue as a leader in protecting children’s health from toxic chemicals. In the face of the federal government’s inaction on toxic chemicals in consumer products, Washington state has led the nation in passing commonsense legislation to protect kids from mercury and toxic flame retardants. Washington needs to continue down this path and pass the Children’s Safe Products Act of 2008.
2. Why are the lead standards set at 40 parts per million (ppm)?
- The 40 ppm level will best protect children from the damaging effects of lead. There is no safe level of lead exposure for children. The American Academy of Pediatrics, in testimony before Congress, recommended that lead in toys and other children’s products not exceed 40 ppm.
- The 40 ppm level is easily achievable by responsible manufacturers. A recent survey of toys for lead found that eighty percent of toys tested already meet the 40 ppm standard.
- The 40 ppm level is consistent with current Washington state standards on lead in consumer products. Washington state already limits lead in product packaging materials. Under these standards, the total amount of lead, chromium, cadmium, and mercury cannot exceed 100 ppm total in consumer product packaging materials.
3. What are other states and countries doing?
- In the states. Several other states have enacted laws regulating toxic chemicals in toys and other products. California, Minnesota, Michigan, and Illinois have all enacted laws regulating toys and other products. In addition, many other states are currently considering laws to regulate chemicals in toys and other products, including Maryland, Connecticut, Maine, New York, and Minnesota.
- In Congress. There
is currently a bill in Congress aimed at regulating lead in toys.
However, it doesn’t include adequate lead standards or address the
entire problem
of toxic toys. H.R. 4040 passed the House of Representatives in December and is currently stalled in the Senate. This bill would phase in lower standards for lead over four years. The bill does not set standards for any other chemical in children’s products and does not require manufactures to disclose the other chemicals used in their products. - In Europe.
Citing the need to recognize advancements in technology for toys and
new science on the health impacts of toxic chemicals, the European
Commission
announced in January that it is revising the 20-year old European Toys Directive and significantly lowering the standards for lead (from 90 ppm available in toys to 27 ppm for brittle and pliable substances in toys and 6.8 ppm for sticky or liquid toys) and cadmium (from 75 ppm available in toys to 3.8 ppm for brittle and pliable substances in toys and 0.9 ppm in sticky or liquid substances in toys).
4. Why not base the lead and cadmium standard on the bioavailability of the chemical, rather than on the total metals content?
- Measuring the total metal content in a product protects a child’s health. The bioavailability
test used in the EU only looks at how much lead may come out of a toy when used in a foreseeable manner. This means the standards only apply to toys for children under age six and only those components of the toys that could be anticipated to be put in a child’s mouth. This is not protective enough of young children who often play with older children’s toys and does not account for wear and tear on a toy which might expose additional components of the toy (such as the inside of a ball) that have high lead content. - Total content tests will help protect the environment. Total content test will ensure that chemicals in toys will not pollute landfills or our waterways when the products are discarded.
- Enacting a standard based on a total metals content will ensure consistency with other state laws. Manufacturers are already testing for total metals content. Existing
toy and jewelry laws in CA, MN, MI and IL are based on total metals content, as is the proposed federal toys law currently stalled in Congress.
FAQs prepared by the Washington Toxics Coalition
For more information contact:
Laurie Valeriano, 206-632-1545 ext. 114 or Ivy Sager-Rosenthal, 206-632-1545 ext. 122
Download the FAQ Fact Sheet
Take Action - Help us make toys and all children's products safe for kids by contacting your legislators today to ask them to support the Children's Safe Products Act.
Resources
See bill information on the Washington State Legislature Web Site:
House Bill 2647See list of Supporters of the Children's Safe Products Act
Learn more about toxics in toys - Download our "What's in the Toy Box?" fact sheet
Learn more about toxics in baby shampoo and lotions - Download our "What's in the Bath Tub" fact sheet
See all our Fact Sheets on the Children's Safe Products Act
Read about Toxic Toys in the News
Learn about our Toy Testing and the Healthy Toys Database
