The Washington Post (2/3, Garfinkle) reports, “Congressionally mandated toy safety rules that take effect Feb. 10 have left freecyclers and resellers of children’s products scrambling to understand the law and how it affects them” and “the result has been word-of-mouth back and forth of truths and rumors about the law.”
Epstein: Lead law seen as national crusade against children’s products. In his column in Forbes (2/3) Richard Epstein writes, “One of the unheralded achievements in public health in the 20th century has been the effective removal of lead from paint and gasoline.” He says, “The right government response throws the book at the perpetrators: civil and criminal penalties coupled with bans from the U.S. market, backed by tort liability in cases of proven injury. No one should make light of serious harms.” However, “our Congress had a better idea, which turned this unfortunate episode into a national crusade against lead in children’s products. ”
Children’s books will stay on shelves. The Kansas City Star (2/3, Shepherd) reports, “Children’s books can stay on library shelves for now, after being granted temporary immunity from lead-testing laws” after “the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission approved a one-year stay on legislation that otherwise would require all children’s products, including books, be certified free of harmful lead by next Tuesday.”
From the American Association for Justice news release.
