Protect Our Children

Well of course we all want to protect our children from anything dangerous, but the United States Congress has inadvertently passed a law that will possibly jeopardize the manufacture of some of the safest products out there. In an effort to regulate the amount of lead and pthalates (a component in some plastics), Congress decided to require testing on all products intended for use by children 12 and under. They even went so far as to make it retroactive! Unfortunately the testing required must be done on the final product, not the components, and will cost up to $4000 per item. For large multi-national manufactures, this is no problem. But for small, usually handmade, product lines, this is cost prohibitive and may force many of the mom and pop companies to close. This again is for all products intended for use by children 12 and under, not just toys. Custom clothing for children will become a thing of the past. Handmade toys will become extinct and second hand shops will have to destroy all of this old, uncertified merchandise.

As you can see this has implications so far reaching that we must speak up. Please consider writing your congressperson and senator to see if we can reach a compromise. Possibly small businesses could send proof that the products they are using in the manufacture of the end items are lead free. There simply has to be a way to save these handmade products and ensure that the backbone of our economy, small businesses, doesn't suffer a major blow. Of course we want to ensure that our children have safe products, but this is not the way.