U.S. PIRG Consumer Blog: Pediatricians recommend dramatical reduction in lead hazard limits

[At the end of this post is a release "The CPSC: The Little Agency That Couldn't." PIRG put it out at the first hearing yesterday.] In testimony today before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Dana Best, MD of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended that lead limits for "all products intended for use by or in connection with children" be set to allow exposure to no more than trace amounts of lead:

She is finally asking Congress for help. It's about time. From AP:

Leaders of the agency responsible for protecting consumers from faulty products said Wednesday that Congress should increase their budget and power in the wake of huge recalls of lead-contaminated toys..."Our small agency has been ignored by the Congress and the public for way too long," said the acting chairman, Nancy A. Nord. "Our laboratory desperately needs to be modernized."

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For Immediate Release: 19 Sept 2007
Contact: Ed Mierzwinski: 202-546-9707x314

House Energy and Commerce Committee Hearing On Import Toy Safety

Statement of U.S. PIRG Consumer Program Director Ed Mierzwinski

The CPSC: The Little Agency That Couldn't

"Information obtained by committee investigators that retailers have not informed the public of numerous lead hazards in children’s toys and products is not surprising. The CPSC law is so weak that it allows manufacturers and retailers to control negotiations over the terms and timing of so-called "voluntary" recalls. With no money and little power, the CPSC is the little agency that couldn't.

Congress needs to do three things to guarantee the safety of toys and other children’s products:

First, it must increase the CPSC's funding and its authority to monitor the marketplace, order recalls, notify the public and impose penalties on companies that break the law;

Second, Congress must immediately ban lead in all toys and children's products;

Third, Congress must add safety links to the import supply chain, including adding more inspectors at ports of entry, imposing measures to require government enforced mandatory third party testing, requiring product traceability labeling rules and adding bonding requirements for all importers to guarantee that they can pay for recalls, if necessary.

U.S. PIRG intends to work to ensure that any final safety laws enacted by Congress protect children and the public, not companies that break the law."
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U.S. PIRG serves as the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups, which are non-profit and non-partisan organizations that stand up to powerful interests. In November, the PIRGs will release their 22nd annual Trouble In Toyland report, highlighting lead and other toxic hazards, as well as balloons, small parts and other choking hazards. More information at our websites www.uspirg.org and www.toysafety.net, and breaking consumer news at the U.S. PIRG Consumer blog www.uspirg.org/consumer