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Consumer Product Safety Act's impact on kids' clothing
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As most parents are aware, there have been a lot of recalls and concerns over the safety of children's toys, bottles, cribs...pretty much everything we use on a daily basis. The result of these recalls was the passing of the Consumer Product Safety Information Act of 2008, which President Bush signed into law in August. The new rules were the greatest expansion of the Consumer Product Safety Commission's Authority since its inception in 1972.
The Act seeks to improve testing measures to insure the safety of products on shelves by requiring manufacturers to conduct sophisticated testing for substances such as phthalates, increase civil penalties for violations of the CSPA, and expands warning for choking hazards, just to name a few provisions. A complete summary of the CSPA can be found here and here.
One side effect of the CSPA is the new safety rules for children's clothing. Due to the new testing standards, clothing retailers are now required to test their clothing for the prohibited substances outlined in the CSPA. This testing is extremely expensive and poses a huge problem for smaller retailers, as well as consignment shops such as Once Upon a Child (locations in Dover and Wilmington), which provide a valuable resource for parents to purchase clothing for their children. With the new rules, many of these shops may be forced to throw out their inventory or close their doors. For a detailed article on the effects of the CSPA, read this article by Alana Semuels of the L.A. Times.
Until a friend pointed this caveat in the Act, I had no idea that it was even written in. While I am all for improving the safety and quality of anything my child uses or wears, this seems a bit extreme. It begs the question of how far is too far? At what point does being protective go too far? Is it worth putting stores out of business or hindering parents from buying their children clothing? What do you think?
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