After the post below - and the Los Angeles Times story that prompted it - drew a lot of attention from parents worried thrift shops were on their way to extinction thanks to the impending Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act ban on children's products that test positive for phthalates and lead, we have good news!
Thrift shops are safe!
The Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a clarification today stating, "The
new safety law does not require resellers to test children's products
in inventory for compliance with the lead limit before they are sold."
Stores are prohibited from knowingly sell products that don't meet the new standards, but the new ruling clears up major confusion (and major fears) for retailers. Considering how much time I spend buying used clothes to save money on my daughter's wardrobe, it put a huge smile on my face too!
The original post:
Think the answer to saving money on your kid's clothes lies in the thrift shops?
You might want to stock up fast. Because the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) that will go into affect on February 10 will affect not only sellers of new products but those selling used goods too.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times last week, Adele Meyer, executive director of the National Assn. of Resale and Thrift Shops, said the places most people go to save a few extra bucks on outfitting their families won't be able to cough up the thousands of dollars necessary for testing every product aimed at kids under twelve.
"They'll all have to go to the landfill," Meyer said.
In this economy? This is the best option out there? Thrift stores - or goodwill shops - are low-cost, sometimes free options for parents. I've found some great bargains on clothes for my daughter - clothes made by big names who might even have the money for the tests, but weren't required by law to do so when the clothes were actually made. In my rural neighborhood, most of the thrift stores are run by churches - who open the doors to families who are down on their luck because of illness, job loss or a fire, absolutely free of charge. Now, suddenly, the places that run on donations to GIVE donations, are being ordered to spend thousands that they don't have.
My biggest concerns about the CPSIA plans came after talking to moms who make and sell products online, who talked to me about possibly going out of business because the government plan is so generalized it doesn't take into account the fact that organic cotton (just an example) isn't likely to share a toxic profile with plastics anyway. The legislation calls for ALL products that could "reasonably" land in a child's mouth to be tested by an independent lab, then tagged to prove it.
If it hasn't been tested - even if there is no lead or phthalates - it will be considered toxic, and it will have to be trashed. As in sent to the landfill, like Meyer said.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), is supposed to consider today an excemption for clothing and toys
made of natural materials such as wool or wood, but even that won't help most thrift shops. Clothes made of cotton - but with dyes - or cotton-polyester blends will still be subjected to the (expensive) tests.
I've said it before - I'm all for protecting the kids. But protecting our kids also means protecting parents' ability to put clothes on their back and shoes on their feet. And if the thrift shops or goodwill stores have to shutter on Feb. 10, an overwhelming number of Americans suffering in the midst of a recession, won't be able to do that.
Image/Source: The Los Angeles Times
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