CPSIA – Northup Lashes Out at Majority for Disregarding Executive Order

Letters to the Editor Wall Street Journal July 26, 2011 CPSC Should Follow Obama’s Policy As one of the minority (Republican) commissioners on the Consumer Product Safety Commission who voted against finding that it was technologically feasible to lower the lead content in all children’s products from 99.97% lead free to 99.99% lead free, I appreciate your July 20 editorial ” Toying with Deregulation .” You accurately paint a grim picture of the commission’s disregard for President Obama’s appeal that regulatory agencies promote “economic growth, innovation, competitiveness and job creation.” But you omit the even more disturbing evidence that the commission majority twisted the language of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act and ignored the evidence before it in order to reach a predetermined outcome. As the majority proved with its 100 ppm vote, it will take much more than an executive order to stop an agency bent on imposing its radical agenda without regard for the economic consequences. See www.cpsc.gov/pr/northup07202011.pdf . Anne M. Northup Commissioner CPSC Washington

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CPSIA – Northup Lashes Out at Majority for Disregarding Executive Order

CPSIA – Rachel Weintraub’s Distortions Justify Dem Refusal to Amend the CPSIA

Democrat tool Rachel Weintraub is never at a loss for words on the topic of CPSIA and true to form, she has today published more misstatements, distortions and innuendo to bolster Dem efforts to block amendment of the CPSIA.  In the space below, I rebut Ms. Weintraub’s “view of the world”.  It is worth noting that a much more erudite explanation of the pending CPSIA Amendment (ECADA) was published side-by-side with Weintraub’s smear campaign, namely ” Fix bill would make products safer, not less so ” by Eric Stone.  For those who don’t know Eric, his credentials include more than 33 years at the CPSC, including as Legal Director in the Office of Compliance and as Acting Director of the Recalls and Compliance Division.  He faced the real questions of safety at the agency and made the judgments subject to the scrutiny of the public, Congress and the legal system.  As Eric Stone notes, ” In crafting its new safety bill, Congress proved that moral outrage and good intentions do not necessarily result in good law .”   Amen. My responses to Ms. Weintraub are in blue and red . Don’t set safety clock backwards for kids products By Rachel Weintraub Florida Sun-Sentinel July 24, 2011 The House Energy and Commerce Committee will soon vote on HR 1939 , the “Enhancing CPSC Authority and Discretion Act of 2011,” or ECADA, a bill that guts the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, a vital law that keeps unsafe toys and other dangerous products off the shelves. RW – It is a typical ploy of the Lefties opposing amendment of the CPSIA to frame everything in terms of toys.  Toys are but one category affected by this awful law, but by using it as the CPSIA poster child, Weintraub puts you where she wants you – afraid of ECADA’s potential effects on innocents by “evil toymakers”.  Aside from the fact that “evil toymakers” are no more or less prevalent in our society than any other category of “evil” something-or-anothers, Weintraub’s characterization greatly distorts what CPSIA really is.  CPSIA applies to ANYTHING that is intended to be sold to children.  The list is well-known but, as a reminder, it includes t-shirts and shoes, carpets, pens, ATVs, bikes, books, science kits, DVDs and CDs, furniture, brass musical instruments, rhinestones and so on.   Focusing on toys is just to get you going. Congress passed CPSIA by an overwhelming, bipartisan vote in 2008, and President Bush signed the bill into law that year. After a year of careful deliberations, CPSIA’s passage followed a record number of recalls of children’s products that injured and killed children. The measure gave new life to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, a weakened federal oversight agency that had failed in its meager efforts to protect the public’s safety. The law represents a giant step forward in protecting America’s children. RW – Another defensive ploy of the CPSIA defenders is the “infallibility of Congress” argument, namely that everyone voted for it so why is anyone against it now.  This argument only makes sense if you don’t think about it too much.  For one thing, the CPSIA was passed in anger.  Have you ever said or done anything in anger that you later regretted?  That point aside, it is important to consider that this law was devised by a Dem-controlled Congress dominated by the strong-willed Left Winger Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco.  Pelosi takes no prisoners and tolerates no dissent among her Dem followers.  The law was dictated by Dems to the Republicans, as insiders acknowledge, and was passed just ahead of the Obama wave in the Presidential election cycle. The votes of Republicans for such an extreme law cannot properly be deemed “voluntary” in any conventional sense. Everyone knew this law was a great chess move by the Dems, forcing Republicans to go along, and even President Bush got into the act by agreeing to sign to protect his party.  Weintraub’s distorted rewrite of history is a good illustration of the rule that history is written by the victors.  Consider the source . . . . CPSIA currently requires that children’s products be tested for safety before they arrive on store shelves — something that many consumers already assumed was happening. RW – Another oft-repeated consumer group assertion, never proven.  It has always struck me that this argument is just transference. I have no doubt that folks like Weintraub always wanted this, and simply assume that everyone shares their “common sense” desires and fears.  It sets limits on lead in children’s products, sets infant product and toy safety standards, and bans certain phthalates, which are chemicals linked to a variety of health risks. The law also creates a much-needed public database where consumers can easily report and research product safety problems. We have already seen the successful results of CPSIA. Most recently, on June 28, 2011, new crib standards went into effect, which means that cribs sold in stores must meet the most protective safety standards in the world. This will give parents and caregivers the long-overdue peace of mind that when they purchase a new crib, it will be a truly safe place for their baby. Some small toy manufacturers have raised concerns about the costs of testing their products to the new safety standards. These concerns, and narrowly tailored ways to reduce the costs for very small children’s product manufacturers, are useful to discuss. RW – The nauseating cynicism of this remark cannot go unaddressed.  Ms. Weintraub argued for two years that the agency “needed time” to implement the law and to work out the kinks.  At that time, she and the other Dems argued that there was “nothing wrong” with the CPSIA that the CPSC couldn’t fix in its implementation and that consideration of legislative fixes was not merited until that process was complete.  Three years later we are still subject to this on-going implementation . . . that is, those of us who haven’t gone belly up.  Weintraub expressed little interest in “discussing” these issues way back then.  Later, Ms. Weintraub tried to justify Henry Waxman’s lame-o effort at a cursory amendment of the CPSIA that offers negligible relief.  Here is an excerpt from her House testimony dated April 28, 2010 (15 months ago) on this topic: ” Special provisions for small businesses includes allowing certain businesses to be exempt from third party testing when the Commission finds that reasonable testing methods assure compliance with relevant consumer product safety standards . We believe, however, that the term “small batch manufacturer” is defined too broadly . We commend the fact that the language does not allow small batch manufacturers to obtain exceptions for durable infant or toddler products or lead paint, cribs, pacifiers, small parts, children’s metal jewelry, baby bouncers, walkers and jumpers. Because of the fatal nature of the defects in many of these types of products, as demonstrated by recalls in the past, all manufacturers should be required to meet the same safety and testing requirements. We could not accept a broadening of either the definition of small batch manufacturer or a limitation of those products not covered by this provision .”  [Emphasis added]  The CPSC never did identify any such “reasonable testing methods” even though the “hunt” has gone on for three years now.  Even Ms. Weintraub must blush when she tells you that such issues deserve “discussion”. Unfortunately, instead of fixing concerns of the truly small manufacturers, HR 1939 goes too far and rolls back important consumer protections created by CPSIA in a number of ways. HR 1939 reduces safety testing for children’s products by undermining independent safety testing requirements for most children’s products. This would place us in the same dangerous situation we were in 2007 and 2008, when millions of beloved toys were recalled because of excessive lead paint, strong magnets that when swallowed in multiples could rip apart a child’s intestines and chemicals that turned into the date-rape drug when swallowed. RW – The issue in 2007 and 2008 was NOT that the law did not protect consumers.  In fact, if anything, the issue was that the agency did not (adequately) protect consumers. The bad behavior that prompted the CPSIA was clearly illegal, as the agency could act to enforce if it so chose.  After all, they issued hundreds of recalls under prior law.  Please pause and give that a little thought.  Weintraub’s argument is pure urban legend, but helpful urban legend for the tall tale she is trying to sell. It is also worth noting that Gib Mullan, the then head of Compliance at the CPSC admitted during the second session question-and-answer session at the CPSC Tracking Labels hearing on May 12, 2009 that the agency had never seen the strong magnet hazard evidenced by Magnetix previously and at first mistook it as a “small parts” issue.  No law can prevent the unknown and the not previously experienced from happening.  That is a safety fantasy.   In addition, the “date-rape drug” incident involved an unapproved change in materials by a factory which no testing regime would have caught (CPSIA or not). The safety issue was completely unprecedented and the product was immediately recalled without argument by a very safety conscious toymaker.  Only in Weintraub’s self-serving world is this incident useful . . . to terrorize.  Under most circumstances, it should be held up as a great public-private partnership and a sign that there are good people in the industry. Under this bill, virtually all toys would no longer have to be tested for safety before they come into our homes — these products would be safety-tested only if and when CPSC undertook a laborious and complicated series of steps, including a cost-benefit analysis that emphasizes testing costs over health and safety benefits. RW – Weintraub here spurns the President’s Executive Order which MANDATES cost-benefit analysis by the CPSC.  This arch position conforms to the surprising world view of Bob “Over My Dead Body” Adler and Inez Tenenbaum and certainly suits their Dem agenda.  It is, unfortunately, an affront to the President’s order.  It is also economic nonsense .  The OPPOSITE is correct, at least according to the Nobel Prize committee which awarded the 1991 Economics Prize to Ronald Coase for his work proving the need for regulatory cost-benefit analysis.  Mr. Coase proved that ignoring cost-benefit analysis exposes all of us to the risk of being impoverished by government regulation.  Thanks, Rachel, for the great idea! It is unclear if CPSC would ever have the resources, time or information to complete what this bill demands of them, and it is therefore unclear if toys would ever be subject to independent testing. Independent testing not only prevents unnecessary injuries to children, but it can also prevent costly recalls for the manufacturer — a benefit to consumers as well as manufacturers. RW – Here Rachel spins an even bigger tall tale, that preserving mandatory testing is in manufacturers’ best interests.  Apparently she is the only one who knows this.  The people who actually work for companies affected by this rule have been howling for three years-plus.  Here Rachel sets us all straight – the problem is we’re wrong and she’s right.  Oh, now I see it!  Her reasoning relies on the urban legend that in the absence of mandated testing, testing will cease.  That’s nonsense and is not supported by data.  We have been testing since I got to Learning Resources, more than 20 years ago.  So, if mandated testing is necessary to force testing, why were we testing way back then?  Simple – we wanted to know we were complying with the standards.  Standards drive testing, and enforcement can make testing prevalent, even universal.  Mandated testing just raises costs, unfortunately.   I have previously addressed this issue in a blogpost. HR 1939 increases the amount of lead that would be permitted in children’s products. CPSIA currently requires that all parts of children’s products comply with a single, unambiguous standard for lead content. The proposed legislation would replace that clarity with a variety of standards that will be different depending on when the product was manufactured, the age of the child for whom the product is designed, whether it contains small parts and other factors. As a result, parents and other consumers will no longer have the confidence that all parts of all children’s products are safe for their children. Lead is a known toxin where even small amounts can be harmful by decreasing a child’s IQ. There is no reason why there shouldn’t be a single, strong standard that simply keeps lead out of children’s products. RW – No reason, huh?  Space does not permit me to reduce this absurd statement to rubble.  I have been writing about the many common sense reasons to modify standards for three years now.  ECADA as a matter of fact does very little to change standards except to codify some sensible concessions already made by the CPSC in stays applying to metals.  If you are terrorized by the prospect of bicycle licking or the horrors of playing brass instruments in the school band , ECADA’s changes will no doubt keep you up at night. Your fears are nothing that our proposed National Xanax Fund can’t address.  The idea that different standards for different products aimed at different ages of children are somehow “defective” flies in the face not only of common sense but also the regulatory tradition at the CPSC.  Before whackjobs began to dominate the safety discussion, and before the agency had its brain removed by Congress, the regulators were able to see the sense of crafting different rules for two year olds, six year olds and twelve year olds. And nobody thought the same rules should apply to rhinestones, pens, ATVs and books.  If you are an experienced parent, you might know something about the need to modify rules for different ages of children. I have tried to regulate teenagers with the same rules as toddlers and received some “pushback”.  And when I try to keep toddlers safe by applying sensible rules designed for teenagers, that doesn’t seem to work either.  HR 1939 undermines the effectiveness of the new crib safety standard. The bill would carve out a large exception to the bipartisan standard for cribs in child-care facilities. Under the bill, some child-care facilities would not have to replace existing fixed-side cribs even if the cribs violate the most basic crib safety standards — slats too far apart, non-compliant corner posts and failing mattress supports. Parents should be assured that the cribs their babies sleep in meet the strongest crib standards — both at home and in child-care facilities. The new, robust crib standards just went into effect for new cribs consumers can buy in stores and will apply to hotels, motels and child-care facilities in 18 months. Carving out child-care center cribs from this important protection moves the safety bar backwards. RW – I have tried to avoid biting on the bait of the consumer group attacks on ECADA for the innocuous and sensible crib rule changes.  It is in Ms. Weintraub’s interest to make you feel that there is some sort of evil cabal dominating the Republican Party which somehow induces them to play roulette with your babies’ lives.  Anyhow, it’s all a fiction but a helpful fiction to Ms. Weintraub’s purpose, namely to subvert efforts to amend the CPSIA.  Here is the “deadly” language that Ms. Weintraub protests so intensely: “(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR FIXED-SIDE CRIBS SUBJECT TO CERTAIN STATE OR LOCAL LAW REQUIREMENTS- Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a fixed-side crib that has not been recalled and that is offered or provided for use in a licensed child care facility (other than a family child care home) that is subject to the following requirements under the law of a State or a political subdivision of a State:  (i) The facility may not allow a child to remain in a crib for any significant amount of time while the child is awake, (ii) The facility may not place in a crib a child over the age of 16 months, (iii) An adult must be present whenever a child is in a crib.” Ms. Weintraub fails to deliver evidence that this exceedingly modest change could harm children based on actual injury data.  She just wants you to push the panic button.  ECADA only permits certain legacy FIXED SIDE cribs to remain in service.  I thought fixed side cribs were the “answer”.  Not if their inclusion in ECADA might help get it passed, apparently. HR 1939 allows the use of dangerous phthalates , which are hormone-disrupting chemicals that have been added to child-care articles like teething rings. This proposed bill would undermine CPSIA’s landmark protections against phthalates by allowing large, undefined exemptions to both the prohibition and interim bans on phthalates in toys and child-care articles. RW – Rachel again ventures into Whopperville to scare you about phthalates.  Let’s start by deciding how “dangerous” phthalates are.  Ms. Weintraub reasons that if (the infallible) Congress banned them, the chemicals are ergo dangerous. The law, in fact, only bans three chemicals permanently and has directed the agency to investigate another three.  On two previous occasions the agency has done just that . . . and concluded that phthalates don’t present a risk to children.  Ms. Weintraub omits to let you know that this provision was added to CPSIA at the last moment, without hearings or investigation, by California Senator Diane Feinstein of San Francisco and mentor to Nancy Pelosi.  Aha.  The science on phthalates is hardly an open-and-shut case – just watch 60 Minutes for perspective.  Ultimately, the greatest disservice to truth performed by Ms. Weintraub here is to distort what measly relief is being offered.  ECADA only allows us to stop testing components that cannot be touched or licked by kids.  That’s it.  The actual words:  ” ACCESSIBLE COMPONENT PARTS- Effective on the date of enactment of this Act, subsections (a) and (b)(1) and any rule promulgated under subsection (b)(3) shall apply to any accessible, plasticized component part of a children’s toy or child care article.” HR 1939 undermines the new CSPC product safety database . This new database allows public access to consumer complaints about product safety problems while giving the industry ample opportunity to view and comment upon such safety-related reports before they are posted. The database, available at http://www.saferproducts.gov, just went live in March. It will help consumers research products, help CPSC identify emerging hazard trends and help prevent unnecessary deaths and injuries. HR 1939 would place onerous hurdles on those seeking to report a safety problem, thereby discouraging the sharing of potentially lifesaving information with other consumers, companies and the government. RW – Oy vey.  There has been so much written on this subject that I can’t bear to write it again.  Ms. Weintraub intentionally ignores any point inconsistent with her political agenda.  I will leave it at that, but feel free to pour over my prior writings on the database (tagged on the side of the blog) for further details. Consumers demanded and received strong product safety reform from Congress in 2008. Undermining these important product safety improvements puts all of our children at risk. HR 1939 will not protect our children from product safety hazards. Rather, HR 1939 rolls the safety clock backwards and creates huge and unnecessary loopholes in our nation’s safety net. RW – One last point, to quote Eric Stone :  “ECADA gives CPSC broader subpoena and investigational authority. Not surprisingly, opponents do not mention such provisions since they do not fit the ‘Republican-industry conspiracy’ narrative.”  I love the “Republican-industry conspiracy narrative” part.  You can see how that might work well for Rachel. Rachel Weintraub is director of product safety and senior counsel at the Consumer Federation of America in Washington, D.C.

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CPSIA – Rachel Weintraub’s Distortions Justify Dem Refusal to Amend the CPSIA

CPSIA – Nancy Nord Op-Ed on the Wasteful 100 ppm Lead Standard

From the Washington Times (July 18, 2011): NORD: Playing around with toy makers Stricter lead regulations will cost jobs without making children’s products safer The Obama administration has recognized that excessive and unnecessarily burdensome regulation is a drag on the economy. As the administration has worked to promote job creation, it has publicized its efforts directing agencies to eliminate or revise unnecessarily burdensome and inefficient regulations. Apparently, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has not gotten the word. The commission’s failure to get the word is no more apparent than in its efforts to implement the Consumer Product Safety Improvements Act. The legislation was enacted after agency recalls of imported products illuminated the issue of import safety. The goal of the law is to assure that products intended for children are safe, a goal for which there is universal agreement. The devil, of course, is in the details, and the details of implementing this laudable statutory goal are devilish for sure. For the rest of the article, please click here .

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CPSIA – Nancy Nord Op-Ed on the Wasteful 100 ppm Lead Standard

CPSIA – Hey Republicans, You Aren’t Allowed to Think!

During the July 7th House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Oversight Subcommittee hearing on regulatory reform among independent agencies (a hearing which presumably prompted Obama’s Executive Order two business days later), Ranking Member Diana DeGette (D-CO) trotted out one of the most common arguments against change: “I want to talk . . . about the recent proposals on the other side of the aisle that would undermine the Consumer Product Safety Commission and some of the other good work that they’ve done.  Three years ago, this Committee and this Congress worked hard in a significantly bipartisan manner to put meaningful reforms for consumers into the [CPSIA].  This has yielded unbelievable benefits. . . . So I think it’s important to know this, that these reforms were worked out by this Committee in one of the last great efforts that was completely bipartisan.  We should embrace that.” This is a familiar argument by Dems.  The law passed almost unanimously, guys, so it’s wrong to try to change the law now.  What logical point is DeGette making here?  How is this argument supposed to persuade us? At first, I thought the Dems were simply arguing the infallibility of Congress.  Congress never errs, so how can we doubt something every Congressman voted for?  Congress is all-knowing and cannot pass a bill without doing the right thing.  [And as Obamacare indicates, Congress apparently doesn't even need to read the bills to get them right.] To argue that this law is a product of infallible judgment is quite a leap.  Even the unanimity of the law hardly explains the mental state of Congress at the time.  Congress was ANGRY.  Have you ever said or done anything in anger you later regretted?  ‘Nuf said. No, an infallible Congress cannot be what Ms. DeGette is pushing.  Actually, I think it’s far simpler.  She is saying that the Dems were right and are still right and have no need or interest in changing their position.  She points out that the two parties agreed on the law’s text in 2008 and passed it almost unanimously.  Now the Republicans want to make serious changes.  She says the Republicans should return to their bipartisan brothers, the Dems, and support the work they did three years ago.  She essentially calls into question the motivation of the Republicans in opposing the Dems now, suggesting that this is a by-product of a broken Washington, where partisan posturing is all we can expect from these people. At the heart of her reasoning is the fact that the Dems are holding their course behind the law, and the Republicans have moved, and now she wants the Republicans to be more “bipartisan” by returning dutifully to agreement with the unwavering Dems.  Or is it the intransigent Dems?  A matter of perspective, I suppose.  Come back to the fold with the Dems!  DeGette’s argument relieves the Dems of any obligation to reconsider ANYTHING.  How convenient.  How Waxman-like. Here’s something the Dems won’t tell you – the law was jammed down the throats of the Republicans in both Houses of Congress.  Congress was controlled by Nancy Pelosi at the time (she of San Francisco, of course).  The CPSIA was purpose-built for getting Democrats elected and was not negotiated with the Republicans in any sense you would recognize.  On the national stage, the Obama wave was cresting at that time, too, so what do you think the political calculation was in the Bush White House and in the Minority ranks in either House on the CPSIA?  The Republicans knew that any opposition to any aspect of this law, regardless of how awful, would mean attack TV commercials on support for children’s safety at a time of great electoral vulnerability. Bush agreed to sign the bill to protect his party, not to protect kids.  At least it neutralized a possibly existential political threat.  Each Republican Congressman or Senator had to make a similar political calculation.  Only four people (Ron Paul and three Senators) were politically courageous enough to stand up against this excessive bill.  It is certain that far more than four members of Congress found fault with the CPSIA at the time.  The 2008 “great bipartisan effort” that DeGette romanticizes is an urban legend, a fiction, a fairy tale, a story.  She wants to cow the Republicans into losing their political nerve at this critical juncture when some kind of momentum behind our position may actually be growing.  She wants them to think ballot box. And for those of you who pepper me with defense of Dems or reminders of past Republican “sins”, all I can say is this:  the Republicans have nothing to gain politically from their three-year effort to right this wrong.  They are taking electoral risks to help us, and have been unwavering in their support of our mission. I can only believe that this is because they actually are trying to do the right thing.  This has never been about policy or safety. The Republicans know that this issue has been played for political gain by the Dems with no remorse over the devastation they have wrought to your businesses, your markets or job creation.  For them, it’s just too juicy an opportunity to get reelected.  And if that’s so, it must be the reverse for the Republicans. The Republicans are taking this risk on your behalf, for your benefit. I hope there’s a nice occasion to say “thank you”.  In the meantime, the likes of Diana DeGette must be vanquished.

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CPSIA – Hey Republicans, You Aren’t Allowed to Think!

CPSIA – I Think I Found Someone Who Lost a Few IQ Points . . . .

Morons on parade . . . . Never failing to disappoint, the Tribune (via its South Florida Sun-Sentinel) today published the latest left wing tripe about the CPSIA Amendment (ECADA).  In an article entitled ” Pandering politicians threaten to make hay of product safety “, Nicole Brochu unquestioningly falls in line with Henry Waxman and Rachel Weintraub on ECADA and trashes safety legislation she clearly does not understand. I am pretty sure Ms. Brochu is not a regular reader of this blog.  She has successfully remained ignorant of many indisputable facts about safety in children’s products, not to mention the detailed nature of the problems caused by CPSIA.  That certainly makes it easier to react emotionally to the “threat” posed by ANY effort to change the ill-conceived CPSIA.  And that she does . . . . Ms. Brochu starts by confirming her bias against business and ruling out any consideration of opposing viewpoints (possibly involving FACTS):   ” I don’t know about you, but when it comes to keeping the nation’s supply of kids’ toys and other consumer products safe, I’m going with the advice of doctors, scientists and watchdogs. I’m not sure we can rely on toymakers and motorcycle distributors to have the public’s collective back on this one . . . . [The] only thing [ECADA] proposes to enhance is special interests’ bottom lines — not the CPSC’s authority, or its protections of the consumers in its care.” Ah, special interests again!  She must have been talking to the estimable Jan Schakowsky.  As everyone knows, I am a “very cynical . . . special interest”.  You should see my lapel pin! Ms. Brochu regurgitates the platitudes and slogans of the shrill groups opposing any change to the law: ECADA and CPSIA are toy bills. CPSIA was passed by an overwhelming majority of both Houses of Congress and was signed by “pro-business Republican President George W. Bush”. As a result of the CPSIA, there has been a “noticeable improvement in the public’s wounded confidence” (presumably in children’s products and the federal government). “[A] bunch of pandering politicians [are trying] to muck it all up for us.  Since Republicans took over majority control of the U.S. House last year (and even before), they have set their sights on diminishing the safety act’s laudatory provisions in the name of lifting the burden off small-business owners.”  [ Ed. Note :  This is a variant of the argument that only Democrats and consumer groups care about kids, certainly not businesses or Republicans.] ECADA is “a hyperventilating overreach that would put the country’s health and safety at risk.  And that’s just what an impressive contingent of folks — including the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, Consumers Union, Consumer Federation of America, Kids In Danger, Public Citizen, Union of Concerned Scientists, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group and the CPSC’s chairman and two of its commissioners — say this measure would do.”  ECADA “[waters] down the safety act’s firm hold on lead content in children’s products . . . .” The book industry and motorcycle  industry are “special interests” seeking a pass for their products. No matter the merits of their claims, the law’s protections cannot be weakened in any way.  [ Ed. Note :  This is the "zero sum" argument again - if manufacturers are made better off by ECADA, it follows "logically" that children MUST BE worse off.] In each case, I have already replied to these misstatements and mischaracterizations in this space.  Since I seem to repeat myself endlessly, I am going to spare you one more trip around the same block today.  You can find the answers in my recent postings on ECADA. The author finishes up with one of the biggest misconceptions promoted by the opponents of ECADA: ” The bill would do away with the requirement that manufacturers test their products before bringing them to market, putting the onus instead on the tax-funded CPSC to conduct extensive, costly analyses to determine if testing is necessary. Taxpaying consumers shouldn’t shoulder the burden, or the cost, of making sure the products they buy are safe. In any reasonable scenario, that responsibility should fall on the businesses — big or small — making money selling their wares to the American public.” This remark reflects a gross misunderstanding of how businesses operate and how the proposed change in law affects businesses regulated under the CPSIA.  ECADA does not eliminate the need to test children’s products for compliance with the strictures of the CPSIA.  The lead standards are still on the books, the rabid regulators are still breathing down our necks and THERE IS NO WAY TO KNOW IF YOU COMPLY WITHOUT PERFORMING PRODUCT TESTS.  What ECADA accomplishes, Ms. Brochu, is to stop the government from telling us how to run our businesses.  We know better how to comply with these rules than they do, and can save vast sums of money wasted on government-mandated testing overkill.  We will STILL HAVE TO TEST. There is no way around it.  And if we screw up, we pay.  This is not really a change, btw.  We have always been subject to American tort law and have always been on the hook for our failures. I wonder if the knuckleheads who believe that ECADA eviscerates the CPSIA understand that the government has no way to force businesses to test.  Mandated testing does not mean that every children’s product will be tested, any more than posted speed limits mean that you will never get a speeding ticket.  To survey compliance, the CPSC will always have to test products – and cops will always need radar guns.  Scurrilous businesses that don’t want to spend the money to comply will lie – and good businesses will spend themselves into bankruptcy paying for endlessly repetitive tests.  The mandated testing regime has little to do with these behaviors because this is the realm of compliance .  Rules do not eliminate bad behavior as common experience instructs.   The drafters of ECADA get this point, and have incorporated the modest concession that the standards are more important to safety than attempting to manage thousands of businesses.  Ms. Brochu would know this if she read my blog. I want to draw your attention AGAIN to the important point that Ms. Brochu’s safety neurotics have yet to answer my query – WHERE ARE THE VICTIMS OF LEAD-IN-SUBSTRATE?  If we are saving children from a dreaded threat NOW, presumably children were suffering grave consequences in the past.  Yet when asked to name these victims and provide case histories and other identifying and validating data, the advocates cannot name even ONE victim – from any country, at any time, using any children’s product by any manufacturer under any living conditions.  Zero known victims – but we must bear billions in costs to comply with a neurotics’ legislative and regulatory wet dream.  Notably, in May 2010 I published my own analysis of 11 years of CPSC recalls from 1999-2010 and found only three alleged injuries (all from lead-in-paint) and one death (from swallowing a lead bangle from a bracelet).  That’s it – and there are no known victims of lead-in-substrate in the CPSC’s publicly-available recall records in that time period to the best of my knowledge.  Or at any other time in the history of the world .  The absence of lead-in-substrate injuries is stark in comparison to prosaic risks we bear EVERY DAY.  Stair falls have killed almost as many people in Japan as fires despite the fact that many structures in Japan are made of wood (1976).  In Canada, injuries and fatalities on stairs are at least ten times greater than those from natural disasters (1985).  In the UK, it has been estimated that more than 100,000 stair injuries occur annually (1999).  Yet the federal government wants us to spend literally BILLIONS OF DOLLARS annually to protect against a health threat not associated with a SINGLE documented injury.  We are being governed by idiots. Maybe someday we can expect the media to think before it speaks.  Maybe someday the standards for journalism will include knowing what you’re talking about, investigating and challenging preconceived notions and a healthy skepticism for pat answers.  Until then, we have the Tribune and Ms. Brochu. VOTE FOR ECADA AND END THE CPSIA CHARADE!

See more here:
CPSIA – I Think I Found Someone Who Lost a Few IQ Points . . . .

CPSIA – NSSEA Calls for Letters on ECADA

The NSSEA (National School Supply & Equipment Association) is calling for letters in support of the pending CPSIA Amendment legislation (ECADA).  Please send the below letters BY FAX to your House Representative and to members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.  You can get the fax numbers off each Representative’s website.  The mark-up may happen as soon as Monday June 20th (but is not scheduled yet to my knowledge). Now’s the time to stand up and be counted!!!  There are two forms of letter below (Manufacturer and Dealer/Retailer).  Please modify as appropriate. Letter from Manufacturers : Dear XXXXXX: I am writing as a constituent and concerned member of the National School Supply & Equipment Association (NSSEA) to express my support for HR 1939, the Enhancing CPSC Authority and Discretion Act of 2011 (ECADA). We urge you to support this important bill that fixes problems created by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) while maintaining the core provisions of this law that ensures the safety of consumers. [INSERT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS, INCLUDING NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES] The safety of our products and the safety of our customers are our top priorities. Unfortunately, we have encountered many problems in trying to comply with the well intentioned but overly burdensome CPSIA. We have been forced to spend thousands of dollars for unnecessary lead and phthalate testing and continue to deal with compliance programs that change multiple times to meet constantly changing rules. ECADA provides common sense reform to sections of CPSIA which have burdened our industry during these challenging economic times. Given your strong record as a friend of small business and manufacturers, I hope that I can count on your support for this bill. A costly new rule mandating a burdensome, unreasonable testing regime, the lifting of the stay on third party testing for lead substrates, and the retroactive application of a tighter lead standard despite overwhelming evidence showing that this new limit is not technologically feasible are just several challenges that my company will face this year if the reforms in ECADA are not approved by Congress soon. ECADA reduces the most excessive regulatory burdens created by CPSIA while maintaining protection for consumers. The bill enhances the Consumer Production Safety Commission’s (CPSC) ability to investigate complaints and prioritize testing based on cost-benefit analysis, and improves the CPSC’s public database by ensuring more accurate information. As manufacturers and small business struggle to recover from the worst recession in decades, it is vital that government does not impose costly and unnecessary regulations that have no positive impact and hinder the fragile recovery. I urge you to vote for ECADA to ensure that companies like mine can continue to provide quality products and services that are so important to our children’s education. Sincerely, XXXXXXXX   Letter from Dealers/Retailers :   Dear XXXXXX:   I am writing as a constituent and concerned member of the National School Supply & Equipment Association (NSSEA) to express my support for HR 1939, the Enhancing CPSC Authority and Discretion Act of 2011 (ECADA). We urge you to support this important bill that fixes problems created by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) while maintaining the core provisions of this law that ensures the safety of consumers. [INSERT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS, INCLUDING NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES] The safety of our products and the safety of our customers are our top priorities. Unfortunately, we have encountered many problems in trying to comply with the well intentioned but overly burdensome CPSIA. As a distributor, we fear that the range of products offered by our suppliers will continue to narrow due to the costs manufacturers incur for unnecessary lead and phthalate testing. In turn, the needs of American students will be unmet, including those children with disabilities and special learning needs, because fewer specialized products will be available to our customers. CPSIA has caused considerable confusion in the marketplace due to the constantly changing rules and regulations associated with the law. ECADA reduces the most excessive regulatory burdens created by CPSIA while maintaining protection for consumers. The bill provides common sense reform to sections of CPSIA which have burdened our industry during these challenging economic times. The bill enhances the Consumer Production Safety Commission’s (CPSC) ability to investigate complaints and prioritize testing based on cost-benefit analysis, and improves the CPSC’s public database by ensuring more accurate information. Given your strong record as a friend of small business and manufacturing, I hope that I can count on your support for this bill. As small business struggles to recover from the worst recession in decades, it is vital that government does not impose costly and unnecessary regulations that have no positive impact and hinder the fragile recovery. I urge you to vote for ECADA to ensure that companies like mine can continue to provide quality products and services that are so important to our children’s education. Sincerely, XXXXXXXX

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CPSIA – NSSEA Calls for Letters on ECADA

CPSIA – AAP’s Campaign of Lies on CPSIA Amendment (ECADA) Continues

Not quite out of town yet, Cindy Pelligrini and her AAP associate have promulgated another letter today with more lies and misstatements about lead and the CPSIA. It is worth observing that there is no doubt, and never has been any doubt, that lead is a neurotoxin and is capable to harming children.  I think that’s a given.  The AAP letter gives considerable air time to remaking this point over and over again.  Got it, thanks.  What the AAP cannot do, and never has done, is prove a LINK between the presence of lead-in-substrate in children’s products (shoes, educational products, books, ATVs, pens, bikes, t-shirts, shoes and so on) with actual injuries.  Nada, nothing.  Instead, they emphasize the “danger”, sometimes lapsing into fantastic arguments calculating “losses” based on assumed and undocumented injuries, but NEVER do they address the subject of causation or nexus. A good example of AAP tall tales is from their May 11 letter: “The potential impact of lead in children’s products is real.  For example, in 2007 and 2008, over 9.8 million pieces of children’s toy jewelry were recalled for excessive levels of lead.  If just one-half of one percent of these items caused lead exposure in a child, 49,000 children would have been affected.  If each of those children lost one IQ point – which can occur at levels of exposure below 100 parts per million – the economic burden of that lead exposure would be at least $409 million just in lost lifetime income. Health economists estimate that every time average blood lead level increases by a small amount across the children born in any given year, $7.5 billion is lost in potential earnings for those children.” But the AAP cannot deliver up even one such victim.  All such calculations are therefore pure fantasy.  Or should I say pure ignominy? Today’s letter is no better.  See below with my annotations in red .: May 24, 2011 The Honorable Fred Upton Chairman Committee on Energy and Commerce U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 The Honorable Mary Bono Mack Chairwoman Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 Dear Chairman Upton and Chairwoman Bono Mack: As experts in the field of pediatrics, environmental health, and toxics, we would like to express our deep concern over the consideration of legislation that would have the effect of permitting more lead in toys and children’s products. [ This is a LIE - ECADA does not permit "more lead in toys and children's products".] Lead is a potent toxicant that can have a range of adverse effects on children’s brains and bodies. Low lead levels cause a wide array of negative effects, including cognitive, motor, behavioral, and physical harm. Even at very low levels, lead has been demonstrated to cause the loss of IQ points in children. [ AAP citations call into question cause and effect, noting the many factors involved including self-selection.] Children with elevated blood lead levels are more likely to experience attention deficit and reading disabilities, and to fail to graduate from high school.  [They are also more likely to live in poverty, in older housing, in inner cities and eat paint chips.]  Researchers have identified associations between lead exposure and increased aggression, commission of crime and antisocial or delinquent behaviors.  [Ditto]  Other effects include abnormal balance, poor eye-hand coordination, longer reaction times, and sleep disturbances. At high levels, lead can be fatal. [Can the AAP show me an example of ONE CHILD who died or was injured from lead-in-substrate EVER?  Apparently not - four Congressman tried to get the same information during the April 7th House hearing without success.]  Lead accumulates in the human body and is stored in the bone, so multiple low-level doses can quickly result in harmful levels. For all of these reasons, our nation has for decades pursued a multi-faceted strategy of reducing children’s exposure to lead from all sources, including air, paint, soil, food, water, and the full range of consumer products. [The AAP cites a CDC publication  in their May 11 letter on lead in which the CDC points to lead in paint, interior dust, exterior dust and dirt and lead in tap water.]  To date, science has not been able to identify any safe level of lead exposure for children. In 2008, Congress passed legislation that recognized the devastating effects of lead on children’s health and strictly limited lead content in toys and other children’s products. The Consumer Product Safety improvement Act protected children up to the age of 12, thereby covering the full period in which the vast majority of children will experience both rapid brain growth and the behaviors that increase lead exposure. [Human factors experts at the CPSC have long acknowledged that mouthing behavior ends at about age three.  Mouthing behavior over age three is unusual and considered age-inappropriate, meaning that it is the responsibility of parents and caretakers to monitor and manage such behaviors to the extent they occur.]  The law also phased in limits on lead content, with the final stage of that limit scheduled to take effect this August. That restriction of no more than 100 parts per million of lead in children’s products is expected to all but eliminate the possibility that exposure to a single product could cause the loss of one IQ point. [The AAP's assertion that there is a "possibility" of a loss of an IQ point from an interaction with lead-in-substrate in a children's product is purely conjectural and without basis in fact.  Their persistence in advancing this argument without proof must be considered evidence of an intent to deceive.]   These provisions represent critically important protections for children’s health and are a vital component of a comprehensive strategy to reduce lead exposure from all sources. [Interestingly, neither the CDC nor the EPA take this position.  In fact, the EPA notes:  "First and foremost, the Agency faces the difficulty of determining the level at which to set the standards given the uncertainties in information on cause and effect --what environmental levels in which specific medium may actually cause particular blood lead levels that are associated with adverse health effects. The Agency has tools, which are only generally consistent, that show that certain increases in environmental lead levels are associated with certain increases in blood lead levels. Given the range of uncertainty shown in its analysis supporting the establishment of a hazard level under this rule, EPA has developed a technical analysis that considers hazard standards for dust and soil at the lowest levels at which the analysis shows that across-the-board abatement on a national level could be justified. EPA recognizes, however that for any levels of lead in dust or soil judgment must be exercised as to how to treat the medium, and interim controls as well as abatement could be effective . . . . Thus, if EPA were to choose standards that are too low, the public could be unable to distinguish between trivial risks at the low levels of lead from the more serious risks at higher levels. This could result in clean up for little to no health benefit, or conversely, it could result in almost no clean up because persons would question the credibility of the ‘hazard' determination."] Given the extreme difficulty or impossibility of eliminating children’s exposure to lead in our air, soil, water and food, it becomes even more imperative to limit lead from those exposures we can control, such as children’s products. [Having never provided any nexus between trace levels of bound-in, insoluble lead-in-substrate in children's products and any known health risk, this sentence is either a lie or intentionally misleading.  The AAP could resolve all such matters in its favor if it ever proved its case.  Over the past four years, it has failed to do so.]  We urge you to maintain strict limits on lead in all parts of toys and products meant for children up to the age of 12 years. Signed by 100 “experts”

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CPSIA – AAP’s Campaign of Lies on CPSIA Amendment (ECADA) Continues

CPSIA – Where are We Now?

I wanted to give you a sense of where the CPSIA amendment effort is right now.

CPSIA – More Lives "Saved" by the CPSIA Database

These breathtaking database entries were submitted to me by Anonymous in a comment on my previous database blogpost.

CPSIA – What You Get For Your Database Dollars

Selections from the CPSIA database, courtesy of an interested party. It’s easy to see how careully the CPSC has been following its own rules on postings . . . . “I don’t think anyone should be wearing them and if they do try them, they should be made aware of potential injury and warned to discontinue use at the first sign of discomfort. I wish I had know.”   “Please consider taking the shoes off the market before more people are hurt.”   “each time the hat was placed on baby’s head he would cry.” [Sorry just had to add this one, it was due to broken needle.]   “My ankle still hurts and probably will never be the same.”   “…still pains me with every step I take.”    “I truly hope you will be able to make this company accountable for the quality issues we have experienced” “I also strongly encourage you to investigate how many other pieces from the same manufacturing batch could be affected…”   “it didn’t occur to me that there might be problems associated with a product being sold in a reputable store.”   “It appears that [Company name] has no concern whatsoever for Consumer Safety just profits.”   “We used an XRF analyzer and testing results showed the plate contained over 300 ppm of lead AND mercury.”    “I did NOT want another product in my home from this manufacturer”    “This product should be recalled.”

Original post:
CPSIA – What You Get For Your Database Dollars

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