Monday, January 5, 2009

This makes me so mad! re:CPSIA

I cannot believe that due to the law passed by The Consumer Product Safety Commission all resale shops will have to throw away all childrens clothing collected prior to Feb 10, 2009 unless they pay HUGE fees to have the items tested for contaminates.

The law, aimed at keeping lead-filled merchandise away from children, mandates that all products sold for those age 12 and younger -- including clothing -- be tested for lead and phthalates, which are chemicals used to make plastics more pliable. Those that haven't been tested will be considered hazardous, regardless of whether they actually contain lead.
I totally get that in the light of all of the lead contamination in the last few years that we should all be more aware of what we allow near our children. I get it. But I also think that it's a little late and a lot wasteful to destroy clothes that have already been worn and prevent them from being worn again.

I would like to see the statistics that say how many children have been harmed from contaminated clothing. I want to see the numbers that justifies this enormous, gigantic, unmeasurably huge squandering of resources. Because that's what this is. I can't even wrap my mind around the wastefulness our government is dictating with this way too broad of a law. Sadly, I think it's just par for the course when it comes to bureaucracy.

ARTICLE

Consumer Product Safety Improvemement Act

ETA: Thank you DJ ezP. With your statistics in the comments section I was able to research a bit further and found an article from USA Today which states that the significant decrease in elevated lead levels in children is largely due to the 1978 banning of lead paint and the phasing out of lead in gasoline in 1975.

The article indicates that continued lead contamination is in housing built prior to 1978 with existing lead paint still in the home - and more specifically lead paint on windows - is the cause of the majority of the elevated lead levels in children tested.

In the early 1990s, Milwaukee pioneered a technique for making homes lead-safe. While it includes stabilizing paint on walls, porches and other surfaces, it primarily focuses on replacing windows or repairing them by shaving down the wood and repainting it, then covering the inside of the frame with vinyl or aluminum.

The city pays homeowners $160 a window to repair or replace them — an offer extended to landlords, too, unless a child in their building turns up with elevated blood lead. Then the landlord must pay the costs; if he fixes that property, he's eligible for city aid for other properties.

"That's kind of when they really see the light," says Sara Mishefske of the Milwaukee Health Department. If a landlord refuses to do the work, the city can get a court order to do it and bill him.

By all indications, the program has been a success. In 1995, 39% of city kids had elevated blood lead; by 2006, it was down to 6.6%. Total cost: $53.5 million — about two-thirds of it from federal grants.

Walking through a home undergoing window replacement, city lead inspector A. Thomas Brandt says the focus on windows makes sense. "It's cost-effective, it does the job. It gives us the biggest bang for our buck," he says. "Ninety-nine times out of 100, the child is poisoned by this window."

He's backed up by years of research showing that opening and closing windows generates enough lead-paint dust to poison children decades after the paint was applied. (Lead helped paint adhere better and last longer.)

"It's like a lead-dust machine, even 40, 50, 100 years after the lead was put into those windows," says )Rick Nevin, a Fairfax, Va., economist who has done extensive research on lead's role in rising crime rates. Windows, he says, are "a huge part of the problem."

I'm confused how lead paint in a home translates to throwing away ALL childrens clothing made prior to Feb 10. I'm going to have to think on that one for a while to find a correlation. I'll get back with you.
ARTICLE FROM USA TODAY

More ETA:
I checked the CDC website to see how many clothing recalls there have been due to elevated lead levels. Nine. Nine recalls in almost 12 years. Nine.
CDC RECALLS

9 comments:

Unknown said...

According to online sources that I've found, in 1978 as many as 3 to 4 million children had elevated levels of lead in their blood. As of 2002, that number was down to 310,000. Another source says that a child absorbs up to 50% of the lead that it ingests where adults only 10%. I'm not sure the implementation of these guidelines are gonna improve the numbers that much, when children can still get lead in the air they breathe and from other sources. I agree with you that it may be a little too broad to do any good and does waste items that may not have anything wrong them.

Holding my Breath said...

Thank you DJ ezP. I've updated my post.

Anonymous said...

Skye--it's Aunt Joyce--hope I'm not butting in--lead paint in older homes--it isn't just the dust created from opening the windows--the old paint chips off--paint containing lead is sweet--children like the taste of the paint chips!--just a bit of help here--have trained specialists do the removal work if lead is present--so, if you are not a trained specialist--putting a good coat of paint over the old paint is much safer than removing old paint 1st. Even new toys have had lead issues, so toys are a concern--as for clothing--don't you think trims/embellishments were the concern as well as where the clothing could have been stored--soap & water are the best help--as children grow--learning good hand washing is a good measure & moms using soap & water to clean toys & play areas is also a help--would you believe that balanced meals is also a help concerning lead problems.
love, Aunt Joyce

Anonymous said...

I realize that I am in Kansas, but just the same --this is good -sound -info--

http://www.kshealthyhomes.org/lead.html#How%20do%20children%20become%20lead%20poisoned?

just copy & paste

I did not see the clothing issues - hopefully that will be up-dated-----meanwhile, just exchange clothing with friends--in fact, just tonight, Nicole & I gave some of her out-grown items to a friend @ her dance class----children grow very fast--most of us like passing along & receiving clothing-----it's my way of recycling!

Anonymous said...

I must agree with you on how wasteful it is to get rid of all these clothes!!!! I think people go crazy over all sorts of silly things. As a mother of 3 I have NEVER worried too much about germs or lead paint or recalled toys or anything like that and so far my kids are still alive. They lived through unboiled pacifiers, eating coins, legos, and mortar from the fireplace, and even licking the dog and cat. And those are just the things I know about. I think the previously owned clothes that they wear is the least of their worries...

Holding my Breath said...

Thank you for the info Aunt Joyce. You're posts are always welcome. Thank you for the info that lead paint tastes sweet. Who would have thought?

Washing hands is not only to prevent getting worms and e coli it's also to decrease the risk of lead. I would have never considered that. Thank you!

Holding my Breath said...

Hi Angy! So I guess I'll just have to teach C to lick the dog but not the windows.

Anonymous said...

just 1 more thought--in our area, the old water pipes are also a problem--guess the info covers that, but want to stress running water @ least 1 minute before washing hands--you could be washing off the lead particles with lead particles----lead settles in the pipes!
Love ya--just use common sense--and most of all--enjoy parenting--some things you will learn from reading & from other parents, but you will learn the most from your Cortland--listen to his cues & he'll teach you what he wants & needs!---did you know that you cannot spoil a baby--only when they are older can they be spoiled & then only if you give-in to their every whim---babies cannot be held too much--some moms wear a carrier & even do their house work that way--keeps baby happy & mom gets an extra work-out as well as comforting baby!
Love to all, Aunt Joyce

Sears on the Plains said...

So, I guess I am too busy enjoying my kids to pay too much attention to all of that "stuff" out there. That's not to say that I am not aware... I could be killed by a drunk driver tomorrow, I am certainly not going to over-exert myself by worrying about the chance that there is something eking its way out of my childrens clothing. The fact is...it's there and it's dangerous to a point. So is the chloirne filled pool behind my apartment, the soil where my husband works, the air I breathe while driving with the windows down, and the toothpaste we use to clean our teeth.
Check this out, it's frightening to a point. http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/splash.php?URI=%2Findex.php
As for me, I am a HARD CORE hand-me-downer. Recycle sister! Use it and re-use it.
Man, you really know how to open up a cautious can of worm!