Lead Law Toxic to the Apparel Industry

As a mother of two, I am sick of reading about toy recalls when toxins, such as lead and phthalates, have been found in children's toy. I actually participated in one such lead recall and had to send back several of my son's favorite Sesame Street plastic toys to Fisher Price for a rebate. And this is after my son had already been playing with these toys for several months with the paint already visibly coming off. Great! So after that experience, I was excited to hear that Congress finally passed a law in August that required manufacturers to test their products for lead before releasing to the public. But little did I know this new law, which takes in effect in early February, is completely flawed. Not only does this law encompass ALL children's apparel and toys under the age of 12, but it's retroactive which means any retailer sitting on merchandise after February 10th that has not been tested for lead, would not be allowed to sell it. That means a lot of brand new toys and clothing will be going to the dump, many which do not even contain contaminants. This will leave many small boutique owners, who unlike a Walmart of Target, cannot afford to have all of their inventory tested for lead and would most likely have to close their doors. Until recently this even included second hand stores, like Goodwill and Salvation Army, but thankfully the law was amended slightly to exempt used clothing and toy stores.

From a manufacturer's stand point, this law should not place a potentially lead-based painted plastic toy from China under the same umbrella as a 100% natural wood toy made in Vermont. This law will add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the manufacturing cost for small toy and apparel manufacturers. They will be forced to use independent lead testing companies, who can charge whatever they want, to test every style before shipping to their stores. This means every single component of a garment, such as a zipper or a button, would need to be individually tested. And even if a garment does not have any decorative trim, it would still need to be tested (where would the lead be anyway?)

Hey, I'm all for a law that protects our children from toxic lead paint and phthalates in plastics, but Congress can't arbitrarily make a law that does not take into consideration all the various businesses and products out there. I think the law should definitely require all plastic toys and painted toys to be tested, but it should be going forward and not retroactive so retailers have a chance to move their untested inventory. And this law should only include testing on apparel that has decorative trim that could be potentially hazardous to children. The trim, such as a zipper or button or applique, should be allowed to be tested separately from the finished garment so that if that trim is used more than once, the manufacturer doesn't have to incur unnecessary testing expenses. And apparel made of natural fibers, such as cotton, wool, or bamboo with no decorative trim, should be exempt from this law.

What's a shame is that the products that would be deemed safe, like a handmade wooden toy or an organic baby tee, would suddenly be out of your price range or disappear from the shelves completely, because those smaller manufacturers will be put out of business. But I guarantee, your choices for large, obnoxious, plastic toys made by the big guys like Fisher Price and Mattel will surely be crowding your local store's shelves, because they're the only ones who can afford the testing and are the reason this law was created. Unfortunately, it's the smaller manufacturers and retailers, who have not been to blame for all the lead-based products, who will be punished for the "big boys" sloppy production overseas.

If you at all feel the same way I do and want a change in this law, please sign the children's apparel industry petition to support a clarification of this law and a modification that would save many small businesses from going extinct unnecessarily.