For the Children?
For two days now, the country has been a safer place for our children as the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) has been in force since being passed and signed into law by President Bush last summer. This new law requires that all items sold to children twelve and under be tested for lead and phthalates, and if those items do not meet the limits of parts per million (limits which will be drastically increased within a few months), then the item may not be sold, or even donated to charity. Small businesses and charities must also comply with these restrictions or face stiff fines and even a prison sentence. The cost of testing each unique item is so onerous to those who deal in used children’s book selling and who have home businesses, and the cost of being prosecuted for not being in compliance with this law is so high, that many are closing shop and giving up. Even libraries and thrift stores have indicated they do not have the resources to meet these restrictions and thus will discontinue making children’s items available. This is a major blow to those who have relied on such resources for obtaining low-cost clothing, toys, and books for their families.
There have been many confusing and conflicting statements regarding the scope of this law and how it will be enforced. While there have been some assurances that small businesses which do not knowingly sell items with unacceptable amounts of lead and phthalates will not be prosecuted, such assurances from government bureaucrats, when those exemptions are not written into the law, do not encourage those who wonder if they might be the guinea pig for selective enforcement of this overreaching law. Sadly, even the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), whose experience with such selective enforcement in the realm of home education ought to cause them to know better, offered some hollow head-patting to those who have written them with concerns. While it’s nice to know that in their meeting with Commissioner Thomas Moore they were given some verbal assurance that the CPSC has no intention of going after cottage industries (”Historically, we haven’t gone after these kinds of businesses,†he told HSLDA, “not cottage industries”), many are not willing to stake their livelihood and freedom on such flimsy stuff.
As I write, precious and collectible children’s books are being dumped and destroyed because of this broad-brush nanny state intrusion. This is unacceptable at so many levels. During a time when families are suffering because of government bungling causing major economic disruption, a significant resource for providing income as well as necessary supplies to those families has now virtually disappeared. In addition, the arbitrary policy of this law to place specific restrictions on children’s books published prior to 1985 is appalling to those of us who know how insipid the content of most modern children’s literature is, and who prefer to provide older books, many of which are now out of print, for our children’s education and training. Who would have thought that overnight such material in our “free” country would become contraband and difficult to acquire? If I were into conspiracy theories (you can decide for yourself if I am), I might wonder if it was also a deliberate attempt to control the content of what we are able to teach our children as the noose tightens and the means to give them a quality, low-cost home education is now hampered? I would think that would be of grave concern to HSLDA.
Valerie Jacobsen, who more than anyone is responsible for my knowledge of good children’s books, and whose livelihood will be significantly affected by CPSIA, is writing extensively about this issue at Bookroom Blog. She wryly pays homage to George Orwell because of the “bright line” drawn for “acceptable” books published after 1985:
Dear Mr. Orwell,
Children’s books were invented after 1984.
Before 1985, there was no Dick. There was no Jane. There was no McGuffy. No boy named Tom painted a fence, ‘Anne’ didn’t end with an ‘e’, and no one had yet thought of putting â€pictures or conversation†on paper for children.
In fact, children didn’t learn to read in the old, old days before our Leaders saved us from our long, dark night. Back in 1984, there was only a dry wasteland of technical books, encyclopedias, service manuals, and other books for adults.
How thankful we are that times have changed so that children can learn to read and have their own books! We owe a great debt to the Great Change–and to Henry Waxman and Bobby Rush who accomplished it!
And we remember the Honorable Thomas Hill Moore, who worked for them….
Sincerely,
Valerie Jacobsen
Bookseller
She also notes that Commissioner Moore, whose verbal reassurances were passed on by HSLDA, stated that children’s books published before 1985 should be “sequestered” and kept from children. I’m sure we are all glad we live in a place where there is such concern for the health and safety of our little ones. I may have to put some yellow crime scene tape over the children’s section of my own home library in order to protect my at-risk children. Big Brother knows what they need.
Note: Valerie has helpfully given information about who to contact in Washington, D.C. to protest this craziness, and to exercise belligerently our right to say what we think about it. Let’s make some calls.
February 12th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Carmon, thanks for keeping this issue in the spotlight. I need police tape in my house, too, if we’re to comply with such Orwellian restrictions!
February 14th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Thanks for the information. I haven’t thought much about it. I wonder how this is going to pan out at thrift stores.
It also got me thinking about the current “plastics scare”, which to me seems like global warming-type fear-mongering. Do you know anything about the dangers of plastics?
I always say that the government’s motto is “We’re here to protect you from your stupid selves.” This kind of legislation is insulting. Makes you wonder how the human race has lasted as long as it has without the government’s help.
February 14th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
The cords keep getting drawn tighter and tighter.
Nobody will loose the cords lest we loose them ourselves.
Lots of Chicken noodle soup and vicks vapor rub,
February 15th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Thank you so much for publicizing this, Carmon. I am amazed by the number of people who assume that CPSIA can’t be a problem, but the text that makes it so offensive is right there in the legislation–and has been confirmed by every document coming out of the CPSC.
Partial reading of these press releases is proving to be misleading. On Friday, I had phone conversations with a lawyer and a journalist. The lawyer told me that CPSIA doesn’t apply to resellers in any way, citing a CPSC Press Release from January 8th titled, “CPSC Clarifies Requirements of New Children’s Product Safety Laws Taking Effect in February.” That press release includes, “However, resellers cannot sell children’s products that exceed the lead limit and therefore should avoid products that are likely to have lead content, unless they have testing or other information to indicate the products being sold have less than the new limit. Those resellers that do sell products in violation of the new limits could face civil and/or criminal penalties.”
The journalist told me that CPSIA has been put on hold entirely and isn’t effective in relation to bookstores until next year. She cited a CPSC Press Release from January 30th titled, “CPSC Grants One Year Stay of Testing and Certification Requirements for Certain Products.” This press release includes, “…all businesses, including, but not limited to, handmade toy and apparel makers, crafters and home-based small businesses, must still be sure that their products conform to all safety standards and similar requirements, including the lead and phthalates provisions of the CPSIA.”
Based on an article from the March, 1974 American Journal of Public Health, anecdotal reports of XRF testing results, and statements from the CPSC, I do suspect that at least some of our older children’s books do tend to contain lead in excess of 600 ppm in some components. If that’s what makes those original illustrations their greater brilliance against recent reproductions, then all I can say is, “Thank God for lead.” And mean it.
As far as I can see, the only way to know that selling a book is legal is to use a $50,000 XRF machine, but I suspect that this would consign more books to the dumpster than to the sale shelf. I’m already seeing reports of thrift stores pulling every pre-1985 children’s book and destroying them. This is tragic, because each vintage copy is irreplaceable.
As a used bookseller, I think I’ve seen almost every way that a child can abuse a book, but outside of baby board books, I’ve never seen evidence that children tend to mouth or ingest books. No child has ever been poisoned by a book.
At least with an unjust, unconstitutional,unlawful Consumer Protective Swimming Interference act, a few lives might be saved and a few disabilities might be avoided. For all the liberties offended with CPSIA, there’s no health benefit whatsoever.
At least with Prohibition, there was a general sense that restricting the right to freely buy and sell would require a Constitutional amendment.
February 16th, 2009 at 4:20 am
I know lead poisoning is a real thing but surely this is over the top. My (very intelligent) husband used to regularly chew on lead (fishing) sinkers as a child. He hasn’t suffered for it (unless in the realms of “he could have been an Einstein”). I do pray that this is overturned for you (collectively).
BTW, it was lovely listening to you on the MRW audio CD that we received a week or so ago. Now I can ‘hear’ you as I read your blog!
In Him
Meredith
February 16th, 2009 at 8:52 am
Jennifer, I know people who worry about plastics “leeching” into food and liquids and who won’t use them, preferring glass containers for food storage, etc., but I don’t know how valid their concerns are.
Valerie, we could have a lot of morbid fun inventing all sorts of ways the nanny state could protect children by putting us in figurative, if not literal, plastic (though I guess they would have to be safety glass) bubbles. From helmet laws to no cell phones while driving bans, external control and “noose tightening,” as Bret mentioned, continues apace until sensible people point out that the emperor has no clothes.
Hi, Meredith! I’m so sorry your Einstein destroyed his brain cells. We could use some brilliant solutions to these silly conundrums. I’m glad you enjoyed the CD…I need to listen and see what I said!
February 17th, 2009 at 6:49 am
This law makes me incredibly angry.
February 18th, 2009 at 10:31 am
[...] commentators who have reported on the CPSIA’s damage. Look! Virginia Postrel, Walter Olson, Carmen at Buried Treasure. Bet they’d all be glad to fill you [...]
February 18th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Our local Goodwill has pulled ALL children’s books and ALL children’s clothing. You’ll be relieved to know that they aren’t going to the trash, but will be sold as salvage to third world countries (according to the manager). I guess those children aren’t affected at all by lead poisoning! As far as I can tell, my children haven’t been adversely affected, either. You would not find many books in our home that were printed after 1985.
I think we all know that the “nice government men” would never do anything that wasn’t in our best interest. *wink*wink* Guess I better get some of that police tape ordered.
February 19th, 2009 at 6:49 am
Cindy, what he apparently doesn’t know yet is if these items are illegal to sell domestically, they are also illegal to export.
Last year we shipped over 4500 books to nearly 50 countries and many of these were children’s books going to parents, teachers, and grandparents for children to read.
February 19th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Valerie, thank you for that information. I’ll be sure to share that with him next time I’m there. Something that really irritates me about the Goodwill situation is the fact that they are still accepting donations of children’s clothing and books without disclosing that those items will not be offered for sale in their stores. If they would not accept them, those items would be more likely to end up at yard sales or on something like Freecycle. (I believe I read that these items should not be included in yard sales, but I can’t see how that would be enforced – hope not, anyway.) The loss of a place to buy children’s clothes for $1.50 per item will be a hardship on some in our community, but honestly, it’s the books that I can hardly stand to think of. I have bought some wonderful old books there. I’ll be making some more of those phone calls tomorrow.
February 20th, 2009 at 9:43 am
[...] of Ordinary Gentlemen (”such a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad law”), Buried Treasure, Allison Kasic/Independent Women’s Forum. And @swonderful, on Twitter: “At consignment [...]
February 21st, 2009 at 8:03 am
I’ve been turning over this CPSIA thing in my mind. Remember that book “Wings for Per” when they had to burn all those books and the teacher was arrested? This issue is not about primarily about lead, it’s about freedom. Even if you don’t sell/collect children’s books or could generally care less about CPSIA, you will care about your freedom. Freedoms which are being compromised as we speak.
The god of our age is environmentalism. How evil is a society who dumps babies in the trash but freaks out about lead and plastic? What wacked out system of priorities seeks to protect children from physical harm but could care less about their spirituality? How many children in america today are physically vigorous whose mind is vapid?
The media are the devils dups who are always blowing the horn about straw men in order to draw our attention away from the real issues in life. Mathew 10:28 tells us whom and what we really ought to fear.
February 21st, 2009 at 1:05 pm
i have a question: how can you logically justify the bible? your thoughts are very well written and i enjoy reading them.
February 21st, 2009 at 2:27 pm
Hi, Preeti…thank you for the kind words about what I’ve written. As for logically justifying the Bible, I’m not sure what you mean by that question. The Bible, encompassed by the Old and New Testaments, is all about who God is and what He requires of us. It was written over thousands of years by dozens of men inspired by God’s Holy Spirit, and from beginning to end is internally consistent and centers on the gospel message of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God incarnate. He came to fulfill God’s purposes from the beginning of time and bring glory to God, redeeming His own from the slavery of sin and redeeming creation from the curse that entered the world through sin. All who truly repent of their sin (ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God) and turn to God through faith in the finished work of Jesus, who paid for our sins at the cross, will be saved and can have eternal life and a relationship with our holy Creator God. This is done by praying to Him and asking for His forgiveness based on those facts I have just related. To learn more about who Jesus Christ is, and what He accomplished, start by reading the book of John.
February 25th, 2009 at 10:25 am
I have been greatly concerned and upset about this. I have posts at my personal blog about it, shared information, images of some of favorite pre-1985 illegal books, and I’ve also linked to your post.
Blessings