Child Safety Product Testing Update

[Ed Davidson]

There's a very informative article in the February 2010 issue of the American Woodturner on new federal child safety product testing legislation - click on this link to view a pdf reprint. Anyone who makes toys or other items for children should read this.

 

[Michaels]

So, there may be a surge in burnished, unfinished wood toys then I assume?

Looks like any finishes won't pass muster without testing before being sold for kids?

Reminds me of the sci-fi theme where robots ultimately take over the earth to protect us from ourselves (I-robot, or many others).

So, this is to take effect in 2 weeks?

michael

 

[john lucas]

I'm just wondering how the hell we all survived without this legislation. I'm sure we had asbestos in the schools, lead paint in our pencils, I remember playing with mercury and coating pennies to make them look like dimes. We ate chicken, meat, eggs and lots of other food they warn us about.
We rode bicycles everywhere usually without helmets. Heck we wrecked them for fun. We drove cars with only a seatbelt(no shoulder harness) and no airbag. You didn't think twice about hitchhiking somewhere.
Our dad's took us shooting and when we got to be about 16 we just went shooting by ourselves.
We had I don't know how many hand made toys with god knows what finishes. Heck we couldn't afford real toys so we made our own.
OK I know it's all bad and and we do need to watch it but seriously, aren't we going overboard.

 

[Barry Elder]

You're absolutely right, John! Growing up down here in Florida back when there was no Consumer Product Safety Commission was a lot of fun! Every time we turn around today, the Federal Government, the State Government, or the local County Commissioners are putting out another Committee or Commission to nibble away at our rights while providing jobs for the politicians friends. Not that I make anything to be sold to kids, but if I did I would forget to follow the rules and probably spend the rest of my life in prison.:mad:

 

[Gretch Flo]

consequences

Not that I make anything to be sold to kids, but if I did I would forget to follow the rules and probably spend the rest of my life in prison.:mad:[/QUOTE]

Not so bad-3 squares, a bed, flat screen cable. heart transplant if you need it. Gretch

 

[John Nicholas]

Going Straight

I'm just wondering how the hell we all survived without this legislation. I'm sure we had asbestos in the schools, lead paint in our pencils, I remember playing with mercury and coating pennies to make them look like dimes. We ate chicken, meat, eggs and lots of other food they warn us about.
We rode bicycles everywhere usually without helmets. Heck we wrecked them for fun. We drove cars with only a seatbelt(no shoulder harness) and no airbag. You didn't think twice about hitchhiking somewhere.
Our dad's took us shooting and when we got to be about 16 we just went shooting by ourselves.
We had I don't know how many hand made toys with god knows what finishes. Heck we couldn't afford real toys so we made our own.
OK I know it's all bad and and we do need to watch it but seriously, aren't we going overboard.

Yep! I remember putting pennies on the rail, waiting in the bushes for the train to flatten them. Cars with only seatbelts. Heck, I went off to college before my Dad bought a car with a seatbelt. My dad took the seat off my first bike, to make it shorter. I remember well learning to pedal fast standing up, cause sitting was no fun!!!

John (Thanks for the memories!)

 

[john lucas]

It was either Bill Cosby or Jeff Foxworthy who said we used to have 300lb TV's sitting on Dinner trays and no one worried about the hazard.

 

[Joe Greiner]

The gospel seems to be, that chewing on lead-painted window sills and toys, casting lead soldiers and such, reduces our ability to make sound judgments. But the pronouncements come from those who grew up on the same diet.

Excuse me, but what's wrong with this picture

 

[Richard Baker]

Was it Pogo who said "We have met the enemy, and it is us"?

 

[Keith T.]

Rant

The problem stems from cheap goods imported from China. Why doesn't the Federal Government focus its attention on the problem, rather than punishing the whole population of this country? Congress is at fault here for allowing our good-paying jobs to leave the country in the first place! (Nafta is just ONE example) Do you think it's just a coincidence that we are suffering such joblessness now? Remember, the cost of cheap imported goods is far greater that it first appears....Foreign workers don't contribute to FICA taxes, unemployment, or heathcare plans. Who is left holding the bag for the shortfall? YOU and I. With such silly legislation on the books, the people in this country who struggle to produce even a simple child's toy are saddled with mountains of expensive paperwork, and face penalties for not complying. Bring our jobs back, bring safe products for our kids and grandkids...Buy American products.

 

[Wipedout]

...Buy American products.

If it was only that easy ....

First legislation like this is going to kill off even more American made products. Nafta isn’t nearly the issue as much as China and the third world manufacturing and don’t even get me started about companies outsourcing non manufacturing jobs such as IT support

Second - It is impossible to buy everything you need/want and stick with American made products - we just don’t make that much here anymore - which is the problem - and we "as a population" have made that happen - I don't know how many posts I read on forums like this where people are looking for the cheapest "good" product they can buy - how many Harbor freight rants I read - not an American made product in there

There was post somewhere recently about clamps and many people pointed them to go the cheap route and buy cheap Chinese/Taiwanese ones - no one suggested Jorgy's which are still made in America

How many people on here and other turning forums recommend the red handled turning set from HF or the HF lathe – but then again what lathe is made here that is affordable or of the beginner level (actually what lathe is made here?)

We as a country want cheap products and we as a country can’t compete with China

I have always wondered about something - I remember hearing about when the Vise Grip company closed its doors in some small town - DeWitt, Nebraska - and moved all their manufacturing to China in 2008. Did they do this because they couldn’t compete with cheap tools - could they not make a profit here? Or did they do it so there profit would be that much bigger - I bet you its the latter .....

I could go on but you get my point I hope

 

[Tom Cadwalader]

Isn't it more than toys?

I just received my copy of the American Woodturner. In reading the article the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, as passed in 2008, I came away thinking that all woodturnings with a finish are all required to be certified. The article goes on to say that any product that has an applied finish or uses certain glues is subject to testing.
Not sure if this refers to an oil finish or not, but any other finish sounds like it might be an issue.
The fellow mentioned in the article uses domestic wood with a walnut oil and beeswax finish.
Not sure I want to be selling my work now.

 

[john lucas]

I may be wrong but I believe Robust lathes are made in America. Not American but Oneway is at least made on this continent.
I make a sell a lot of Christmas ornaments. The new regulations say I will need to have those tested. Well I guess I'll just have to get arrested. There isn't any way I can pay to have them tested. I need the money to make ends meet. I'll bet my hand mirrors will fall under the same regulations. So it's eat and pay bills or try to find something else to build and sell. Not something you do overnight.

 

[Rick M]

Following the lead set by software companies, maybe all we need is a good disclaimer whereby the customer--by their purchase--accepts and agrees . . . thereby waives . . . subject to change without notice.

And as another benefit of membership, perhaps AAW could use their resources to develop the right verbiage to fill in the gaps.

 

[Ed Davidson]

Rather than speculating on what the rules are and how they affect your business or hobby, it would be best for anyone with an interest to begin reading what the Government has to say about child safety and third party testing. Here's a link to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act page that is dedicated to this particular child safety legislation: http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html. Among other things, you can sign up through this link to receive email alerts.

The best Government document I've found through this site, that does a pretty good job describing what is and is not covered by the CPSIA is located here: http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/leadpolicy.pdf. Pay particular attention to paragraph "C".

 

[Bob D]

As I read it

Ed,

It seems to me after reading your links, that bowlmakers and other turners not aiming their product for children can continue to use their favorite finishes, e.g. Polly, Linseed, watco, etc??? If not, a lot of us with product in various outlets would have to take all our work back.

 

[Keith T.]

Bowls are not toys, but kids have to eat, too. The government will have their hand in that aspect as well, rest assured. What ever happened to the land of the FREE?

 

[Bill Grumbine]

Y'all might get a kick out of this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq8wbXAR4ZQ&feature=player_embedded

 

[Joe Greiner]

My e-mail contacts might get a kick out of it too.

Thanks, Bill.

 

[Bill Nichols]

After reading the "Statement of Policy" from the link in Mr. Ed's post, with the applied finish being the only thing in question on a wooden project, would the testing done by the manufactuer of the finish be enough in our case? I know in the work place when dealing with OSHA, you must maintain a MSDS sheet on all chemicals used on the property. Could it possably be as simple as maintaing a record of finishes used in your shop and their MSDS sheets furnished my the manufactuer?

 

[Ed Davidson]

Bill,

Not speaking on behalf of AAW - my personal read of this thing is that enforcement (and fines) will be against retailers, not the manufacturer of domestic goods. So for example, if you're wholesaling or consigning baby rattles to a local gallery, its the gallery that will have to decide what paperwork they need from you to comply with the law.

Non-domestic goods without the "right" paperwork might be stopped at the border, but in the end, it'll still be the responsibility of the retailer to ensure compliance.

 

[Russ Fairfield]

In the broad definition, anything we make could be chewed on by a child. In the past, there has been little if any enforcement action. It remains to be seen what the Federal Bureaucrats do with this one. Personally, I think the law was written for the big toy importers, and there are bigger fish to fry than a woodturner who wants to make a salad bowl.

I may be wrong, but I think there is much ado about nothing. The reality is that we have been under the law since lead and cadmium were removed from finishes in 1978. All the new regulations say is, "Prove it." I suspect that we will be getting more questions about food and child safety of what we make. But, that has happened every time there has been anything in the news about finishing safety in the last 30 years.

We can easily resolve most questions by learning the truth about finishing chemistry and using non-toxic wood species; and we always have the option of leaving the wood bare, or coatinmg it with beeswax and mineral oil.

There has always been a provision that says we can be asked to prove that the finishes we use are in compliance, that they contain no Lead or Cadmium, and that we have used them in accordance with the manufacturers instructions. Any finishing product that contains neither cadmium nor lead is in compliance with the FDA regulation, but until now there has been no way to bring legal action agaiist violators. This new law corrects that.

What is missing from the news stories about the toy problem is that several of the domestic finishing and paint manufacturers have lobbied for these new regulations because it will allow them to put a "food safe" and "kid safe" label on the can, and use that as an excuse for raising the price without changing the product.