Thursday, September 3, 2009
Chicagoland / Politics / Clout City Mattel dodges Trib-inspired toy-testing laws
Posted by Whet Moser on 09.03.09 at 11:29 AM
You may recall that in 2007, the Chicago Tribune conducted an intensive investigation into lead-tainted toys, testing over 800 products and snaring Walgreens, Ty Girlz, and Baby Einstein products. Their "Kids At Risk" series also encompassed magnets, cribs, car seats, bassinets, and food.
Their watchdogging got a lot of attention, and in the wake of what Consumer Reports termed The Year of the Recall (PDF) , Congress passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, sponsored by Bobby Rush.
Protecting kids! What could go wrong?
The actual writing of the bill, it turns out, inspiring the wonderful Reason subhed Hipster moms and conservative congressmen join forces against the regulatory state, in part because it imposed fairly substantial guidelines that treated toys like, say, raw meat: "the law requires every toymaker, distributor, or retailer who sells products in the U.S. to certify each of its models through third-party testing, labeling every item with an individual date and batch number." The hipster mom part comes in because of the burdens the CPSIA would place on small manufacturers or independent craftsmen.
Not that author Katherine Mangu-Ward wasn't hopeful the act could be improved: "With a one-year grace period for most of the industry, it may be possible to convert the stated sympathies of congressmen like Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) into legislation that will carve out an exception for most domestic small-scale toymakers."
So who's gotten an exception? Mattel.
Why? Lobbying.
Comments (1)
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If you are concerned about lead in your children’s toys then be VERY concerned about the lead and other toxic chemicals to which children are exposed in artificial turf in playfields all over the city. These levels may well be six times more than permitted for certain consumer products under newly revised federal laws.
Chicago has preferred to spend hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars in court to oppose toxicology testing rather than simply do the testing. To learn more, visit www.protectourparks.org and be sure to scrub down your child and his or her clothing and sports equipment immediately after playing on artificial turf!
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Letters & Comments, September 10, 2009
Maybe next time you'll wait until AFTER you talk to someone with actual knowledge of the situation before you throw a rumor with no real information but a sensationalized headline out on the Internet and cause a panic among hundreds of workers.
- Sep 10, 2009
