All right. So, I'm sure a lot of you Americans on this board are aware of the big lead paint scare last year, mostly with toys that came from China. It was really a big deal--no one wants to put their kid in danger by handing them a Barney toy. I get that. It's good to take precautions about that stuff, even though the initial scare is over.
What's bad about that is, Congress passed a bill called the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, or CPSIA. Basically, every single product that's manufactured and sold has to be tested. Every. Single. Item. We're not just talking toys here. We're talking about fabric, shoes, diapers, hairbands. Videogames, audio books. Coloring books, board games, baseball cards. Sporting equipment like bikes, backpacks, camping stuff.
And testing is NOT CHEAP! For a single component, it could be about, say, $150. For every extra detail--maybe a second color of thread, a button or a zipper, a ribbon or stitching, because each color would have to be tested-- that would be an additional fee.
It could EASILY add up to more than $1000 just to TEST a product. And that's for just one style or size of, say, a tee shirt!
The thing is, thrift stores aren't exempt from this. They don't have to test every product they get, but they are liable (responsible) if a product doesn't meet standards. So if they have a product in stock that was made before the regulation, they're responsible for that. Thrift store owners have no way to guess whether every grommet or zipper on a kids' jacket or ink on an old jigsaw puzzle box or some plastic component of Mom's old roller skates would pass as okay.
I know some people who don't have a choice but to buy used clothes, because their families are going through a rough finacial time. Because of this CPSIA thing, those families may have to pay $30 for a new, pre-approved jacket, because the one they could've gotten for $5 at the local thrift store was taken off the shelves.
What's even worse about this:
Children's books in libraries. Some of your favorite books might be taken off of the shelves, because they don't meet standards. The library would have to pay really high additional fees to add new books to their collections. What's likely to happen? Children's sections might get removed entirely.
Now, you know how some people make a living, simply by selling things that they make by hand? Hand-made instruments, jewelry, heirlooms? Maybe cultural Native American stuff, like mocassins and buckskins, which they have to--you guessed it--make by hand. That's not going to happen anymore. People can't just make stuff, and then sell it. And most small businesses can't afford to go through all the testing.
In addition, overseas companies who make products, like toys, clothes, and other crafts that don't live up to American standards are likely to just pull out of the market completely.
Our economy is going to be really hard-hit by this. It's not good news at all.
Instead of letting Americans take their own risks, the government is trying to eliminate it completely. They see it better to just get rid of everything that might--might!--be bad, instead of helping us manage the risk to make better decisions.
