Smarty Alert: Have You Heard?

Attention Mompreneurs, Green Moms, Savvy Moms, and all you Smarty Moms, have you heard about the new safety rules for childrens' clothing and toys?

The Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) is scheduled to take effect February 10th, and was passed by Congress last year in response to widespread recalls of products that posed a threat to children, including toys made with lead or lead-based paint. Here's the deal:

From the LA Times on 1/2/09, "Barring a reprieve, regulations set to take effect next month [Feb. 10] could force thousands of clothing retailers and thrift stores to throw away trunkloads of children's clothing. This new law is aimed at keeping lead-filled merchandise away from children. It mandates that all products sold for those age 12 and under (including clothing) be tested for lead and phthalates. Those that haven't been tested will be deemed hazardous, regardless of whether they actually contain lead."

CharlotteSmartyPants ran a blog about this new law that will potentially harm a lot of businesses including Goodwill, trunk lines, local consignment sales, mompreneurs, eBay,Craig's List, etc. - this is HUGE! Small businesses in particular will not be able to afford the high cost to test their products. However, we absolutely need to have laws in place to protect our children and what they are exposed to. Yet, this seems to go against the green movement.

Check out CSP's blog, particularly the comments from other Smarty Moms.

What do you think?

Posted by Triad Smarty Pants at 10:07 PM