Effective February 10, 2009, in the United States, the sale of
all children's books (books intended for children ages 12 and
under) is to be PROHIBITED. Every single book printed prior
to the ruling is affected, whether new or used. New books in
production are required to include a "lead-free" certification
and will be the only books that are legal to offer for sale.

What does this mean to the homeschooling family?

Well, for one, curriculum fairs across the country will be
canceled as book vendors scramble to figure out how to comply
with the new ruling. Complete book inventories will have to be
destroyed -- the ruling even prohibits giving away the books!
Local thrift stores will be hard hit -- most will likely have to
close their doors -- yes, even Goodwill and Salvation Army.

Clothing, toys and books -- even CDs and DVDs are included in the
ruling. Thrift stores will no longer be able to accept or process
anything (including clothing) that would be intended for a child.

No more library sales. Libraries will not be permitted to give
away or sell book donations. It is unsure yet, however, how
the libraries' shelves themselves will be impacted (the ruling
doesn't explicitly mention "loaning" books, just selling or
giving them away). The key word, however, is "distribution" --
libraries may well be required to destroy books from their shelves.

(The ruling that originally passed was about toys, but the EPA has
since made a statement that clothing, books and media are included
in "children's toys".)

Just how serious is this new law?

Amazon.com has already notified all vendors of their need to comply.
No book can be sold at the Amazon site that was printed prior to
compliance. And the "compliance" must be coordinated at the manu-
facturing stage. At the time of this article there is no clause
to be able to grandfather-

<(the ruling
doesn't explicitly mention "loaning" books, just selling or
giving them away). The key word, however, is "distribution" --
libraries may well be required to destroy books from their shelves.>

Anyone know know how this will affect PBS swaps?  I have tons of children's books on my wish list and  my bookshelf is pretty much nothing but.  Will we no longer be allowed to swap these after Feb 10th?

Michelle in OK

I just got this from http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09086.html

Sellers of used children’s products, such as thrift stores and consignment stores, are not required to certify that those products meet the new lead limits, phthalates standard or new toy standards.

The new safety law does not require resellers to test children’s products in inventory for compliance with the lead limit before they are sold. 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.

I think this makes it OK for us all

JP

Hi Joanne,

Your response seems so straight forward, and I have been following the CSPIA contoversy for a bit, and while you are probally correct, it isn't that clear cut.

While resellers (or anyone/company) giving away the books for free don't have to test the product, ie, book, they can't sell it if the lead content is over 600ppm (which will decrease to 300ppm in August.)

So, while toy makers, ie Mattel, are required to test their product, resellers of used books are not required to test, but they cannot sell any product that exceeds the legal limit of lead.

Basically, the reseller needs to be a mind reader of sorts. Guessing if the ink in the book exceeds the allowable lead content or not.

I support the idea of better safety regulations for children's products, but the CSPIA needs to be ammended.

The American Library Association is carefully watching this legislation, and at this point, probably writing and calling any and everyone in DC is a good idea. The main problem of lead in books is in the ink. The question that EPA seems to be asking is, how much lead could a child actually injust if he decides to eat an entire book. The actual question should not be this, because this is not even a realistic possibility. Even if a baby is sucking on the book for a prolonged period of time, the lead in the ink does not leach out of the paper. The paper dissolves in the baby's mouth, it tastes icky, and he spits it out.

Now, a dog is another matter!

LOLo

Liz

PS: Although I've heard that the testing for lead in books will costs approximately $150 per title, which the big companies will pick up with no problem, it is a reminder that they will also feel entitled to pass along the cost to the consumer (not the baby eating the book, but the mommy buying the book!). This may be an excellent time to recruit friends to PBS, as we all look for ways to keep books in the hands of our little ones!