Protection legislation a win for our children

“They can interfere with normal growth and development and cause problems in reproduction and fertility for adults,” says Bill Walker, vice president of the Environmental Working Group.

Many phthalate-free products are already on the market. Wal-Mart and Toys R Us have decided not to sell children’s products that contain these chemicals.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission Improvement Act takes the toy industry’s voluntary safety standards and makes them mandatory. It also requires children’s products (including toys) to be safety tested by an independent laboratory before they can be sold.

The government can’t possibly do all this testing, so independent labs and some toy company labs will conduct the testing. But the CPSC will oversee the process and can pull a lab’s accreditation if the rules are not followed.

“Toy companies will have to prove to the CPSC that the lab is not influenced by the parent company,” explains Jean Halloran of Consumers Union. “They must show that it’s a separate entity that can render an independent judgment.”

Getting the word out
It can take months, sometimes years, for a manufacturer to recall a dangerous product. While CPSC investigates, consumers are kept in the dark about any reports of injuries or deaths related to that product. The new law changes that. CPSC will no longer keep this information secret.

The commission will create a public database where anyone – doctors, lawyers, parents – can report product safety hazards and anyone can search this information and get details about specific makes and models.  This is a huge change that will empower consumers to learn about potential hazards and should result in fewer injuries and deaths.

The bottom line
It’s going to take a while for all the new rules to become effective. In some cases, it will be a few years. Even then, it will still be a buyer beware marketplace. When it comes to safety, we must always be on guard.

Remember: The new law will not affect the toys you find on the shelf this holiday shopping season. Most of them have already been manufactured. Parents still need to check for potential hazards, such as small parts that could choke a child or small magnets that can come off and be swallowed.

My two cents
Consumer safety in this country is moving forward, for the first time in a long time. The CPSC will soon have the tools and the legislative muscle it needs to be the watchdog it was always supposed to be. Rather than simply respond to injuries and deaths, the commission will be able to prevent them.

Thank you Congress – job well done! And thanks to all the consumer groups who lobbied for so many years to make this happen.

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