Has Anyone Heard of the New Lead Law in US?

[Marys Garden]

Better known at the Consumer Product Safety Improvment Act of 2008 (CPSIA)?

It's a law passed in the US and will be implimented on February 10 regarding the sale of products intended for children 12 and under.  The gist of it is that any product sold in the US has to be tested to be certified that it does not contain any hazardous materials.  I wasn't aware of it until it was brought up in another forum I frequent.  And it's been discussed alot on the forums on one of the other handcrafted seller sites.

Here's where I first heard of it http://www.starvingjewelryartists.com/index.php?showtopic=11942&hl=

Admin, if it isn't kosher to post this link, please feel free to delete.  I'd be happy to just email it to anyone who wants to contact me.

Thanks!
Kelly

[Loopy4ewe]

There has been so much chatter about this recently and rightly so. I know that they've been making revisions and have added some products as exemptions - such as cotton. There are alot of small business very worried right now.

[Zs Knees]

Uh-oh! Somehow I'd thought this law didn't go into effect until summer '09.

I read somewhere that you don't need to have your products all tested, but rather you need to have proof that your materials are certified (for example, have the fabric manufacturer send you a certificate-- that way the testing is done/arranged by the manufacturer, who sends out proof that it has done its job). Does anyone know if this is true?

If anyone knows the exact steps we need to take, I'd really appreciate it! It can be confusing to dig through all the info.

[Marys Garden]

The CPSC did enact a stay for most products until Feb 2010 (although some groups are working to get it thrown out).  Basically, unless you make jewelry or painted objects, you don't have to test, but you do have to be compliant with the law.  So if you have certifications from suppliers, or know your product to be lead and phlalate free, you are find until next year.

For jewelry, we had to be compliant with reasonable testing as of Feb 10 and will have to do 3rd party testing as of March 23.  No stay for us.  Prior to the stay, all other objects had to start having 3rd party testing in August of this year.

There are some good, easy to read documents on the CPSC website and you can sign up for email updates to be notified when changes happen.  There are a couple of different bills in Washington now to try to ammend the law.

[Zs Knees]

Thank you so much, Mary's Garden, for the info and links!