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the government is about to make my little crafting enterprise illegal. Yes, the CPSIA will, on February 10, 2009, declare my UniQuilts, aprons, bibs and overalls to be hazardous materials.
In a backlash against the spate of lead-laced Chinese toys last year, the government enacted a bill that requires lead and phthalate testing and extensive labelling requirements for every item intended for use by children under the age of 12. The law applies to all manufacturers, regardless how large or small, and does not currently exclude makers of one-of-a-kind items.
The law requires testing of end-products, even if they are constructed of materials that have been previously certified as lead-free. ETA: Books fall under the law, too. So do educational materials - an educational microscope manufacturer is ceasing production because the light bulbs required for the scopes contain lead. Yes, that's how bad it really is!
So a quilt made of certified fabrics, batting and thread, would have to be tested anyway because, by some magical alchemical process, lead may have appeared during its assembly.
I can't do a decent job explaining this right now, so I'm going to link you to ModernJune, who did a fantastic job. More here.
Etsy teams are banding together in a big letter-writing, media-calling, representative-bombarding awareness campaign. To wit:
Thanks to Goldtone Designs for the graphic!
In a backlash against the spate of lead-laced Chinese toys last year, the government enacted a bill that requires lead and phthalate testing and extensive labelling requirements for every item intended for use by children under the age of 12. The law applies to all manufacturers, regardless how large or small, and does not currently exclude makers of one-of-a-kind items.
The law requires testing of end-products, even if they are constructed of materials that have been previously certified as lead-free. ETA: Books fall under the law, too. So do educational materials - an educational microscope manufacturer is ceasing production because the light bulbs required for the scopes contain lead. Yes, that's how bad it really is!
So a quilt made of certified fabrics, batting and thread, would have to be tested anyway because, by some magical alchemical process, lead may have appeared during its assembly.
I can't do a decent job explaining this right now, so I'm going to link you to ModernJune, who did a fantastic job. More here.
Etsy teams are banding together in a big letter-writing, media-calling, representative-bombarding awareness campaign. To wit:
Thanks to Goldtone Designs for the graphic!
