CPSC Gives Thrift Stores A Break On Lead Testing

Amid concerns that the new Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act might inadvertently cause thrift stores to close because they couldn't comply with lead testing requirements for toys, clothes and other baby products, the Consumer Product Safety Commission recently announced that thrift stores and resale shops get a break on lead testing. Sort of. While CPSC isn't going to make thrift stores test every item in inventory when the law goes into effect on Feb. 10, 2009, this new statement doesn't let resellers off the hook entirely, either. That's a good thing for parents, and especially for children, whom the CPSIA is designed to protect most of all.

CPSIA requires that manufacturers and importers of new baby and children's products, for kids under age 12, must test for lead (under 600 ppm) and phthalates and certify that their products meet new safety standards before they can be sold in the U.S. Initially it looked like the testing and certifying might also apply to resellers, which would have been costly and nearly impossible for many thrift shops to handle, leading to concern that secondhand baby products and clothes would no longer be sold due to legal worries. CPSC's latest statement indicates that resellers are not required to certify their products, and they are not required to test used products that are already in their inventory come Feb. 10.

However, this does not give thrift stores a free pass to sell dangerous products. CPSC says "resellers cannot sell children’s products that exceed the lead limit and therefore should avoid products that are likely to have lead content, unless they have testing or other information to indicate the products being sold have less than the new limit." So, they don't have to test all of their products, but it still is not legal for them to sell products that have more than the 600 ppm of lead, so thrift stores will be smart to avoid selling some of the most common offenders when it comes to lead content, such as children's metal jewelry and painted wood or metal toys. Shops that sell products exceeding the lead limits will face civil and/or criminal penalties, so some resale shop owners may tread pretty carefully still over children's products.

CPSC's news release on thrift shops said while the agency "expects every company to comply fully with the new laws resellers should pay special attention to certain product categories. Among these are recalled children’s products, particularly cribs and play yards; children’s products that may contain lead, such as children’s jewelry and painted wooden or metal toys; flimsily made toys that are easily breakable into small parts; toys that lack the required age warnings; and dolls and stuffed toys that have buttons, eyes, noses or other small parts that are not securely fastened and could present a choking hazard for young children." In addition to the new lead and phthalates standards to improve children's products safety, CPSIA also made it illegal to sell recalled products as of Aug. 2008.