CPSIA – AAP, Get a Calculator!

In my continuing exploration of the misuse of data by consumer groups to prove up the “need” for the CPSIA, it occurred to me that Dr. Dana Best of the American Academy of Pediatrics can’t multiply. She needs a new calculator.

Just an aside: Japanese government officials announced today that radiation OUTSIDE the disabled reactors at Fukushima have now reached LETHAL levels:

“Water in an underground trench outside the No. 2 reactor had levels exceeding 1 sievert an hour, a spokesman for plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. told reporters in the capital today. Thirty minutes of exposure to that dose would trigger nausea and four hours might lead to death within two months, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Preventing the most-contaminated water from leaking into the ground or air is key to containing the spread of radiation beyond the plant. A partial meltdown of fuel rods in the No. 2 reactor probably caused a jump in the readings, Japan’s chief government spokesman said today. ‘There’s not much good news right now,’ said Gennady Pshakin, a former IAEA official based in Obninsk, the site of Russia’s first nuclear power plant.” [Emphasis added]

The Japanese situation is a real crisis. The AAP wants you to think lead is also a crisis. It’s not.

In my post yesterday, I reported on Dr. Dana Best’s testimony in front of the CPSC Commission on February 16th about the purported effects of even trace amounts of lead on the intelligence of our children. While Dr. Best speaks for the AAP on occasion, I know that she doesn’t always write her own testimony. Sometimes she reads words written by other people under her own name. In the Spring of 2008, I went looking for Dana Best, and in response to a voicemail I left at her office, Cindy Pelligrini of the AAP called me back. Dana Best never called me back. I was calling in reference to the then pending Illinois lead labeling law which was being propelled by Dr. Best’s seminal House testimony on lead (September 20, 2007). In that phone conversation, Ms. Pelligrini acknowledged to me that she had written the September 20th testimony, not Dr. Best, and as a consequence, was the “right person” to talk about its contents. Ms. Pelligrini’s qualifications to write House testimony on lead on behalf of a professional association of pediatricians? According to her in our conversation, she holds a degree in political science. She is not a doctor and she is not a scientist as far as I know.

So is it surprising then that Dr. Best got all tangled up in numbers in the recent CPSC testimony? As I noted yesterday, Dr. Best asserted the following: “When averaged across even a modest population of children, the public health harm caused by lead is significant. Considering that there are about 75 million children in our nation, impacting one-half of one percent of all children would mean an exposure of 3.75 million children. . . . For one million children, [the loss of lifetime income from one IQ point per child] would total over $8.3 billion.” [Emphasis added]

Okay, let’s break out our calculators and check Dr. Best’s math. 75 million x 0.005 = 375,000. Oops! Didn’t she say that “one-half of one percent of all children” is 3.75 million kids? Hmmm.

[Sidebar - she's almost right about the population of kids, but not quite. According to childstats.gov, there were 75.2 million children living in the U.S. in 2010. Of course, only 50.4 million were under 12 years of age, basically the age bracket covered by the CPSIA. This is not a calculator error, this is just more junk statistics from a so-called "expert". I hope the CPSC Commission employs a fact checker!]

I think that’s a big difference. 3.75 million children is 1-in-20 but 375,000 is 1-in-200 (based on a population of 75 million children, an inflated number). Using the more realistic population number of about 50 million, Dr. Best’s 3.75 million number is 1-in-13 children. Dr. Best’s number suggests that there is likely to be two or more lead poisoning victims in EVERY classroom of children in our country. Do you believe that?

Give me a break. The problem is that there are many people out there who might believe this nonsense. Some of them may be your elected representatives.

Dr. Best goes on to “illustrate” the scope of the “cost” of this poisoning, all based on her assumption of 1-in-13 children losing IQ points. She illustrates the “cost” to society of the loss of a single IQ point on a seemingly “modest” population of 1 million children. [Don't forget, she hasn't produced even ONE victim yet.] Since she is apparently severely math-challenged, let me help you here. One million children is (roughly) 2% of the age range covered by the CPSIA. In other words, it’s about 1-in-50 kids. Her “modest” assumption implies at least one brain-damaged child in every other classroom in America, all because of lead-in-substrate in children’s products. Her illustration is intended to show that the incredibly “high” cost of the purported lead epidemic justifies the extreme measures of the CPSIA to eliminate lead down to trace levels in children’s products.

Do you believe her? Why, exactly? If there are so many damaged children from lead-in-substrate in children’s products, why can’t the AAP come up with a few and show real case histories? Why won’t they talk about real data?

I am not impressed. The AAP holds itself out as an “expert” but puts out junk statistics to back up junk science recommendations. We are being scammed.

You MUST demand of your Congress that they won’t be fooled. The age of junk science needs to be brought to an end! Let your voices be heard!

Read more here:
CPSIA – AAP, Get a Calculator!

CPSIA – WSJ’s 8th Editorial Against the CPSIA

Eight WSJ editorials on the same topic. Is it time to get Congress’ hearing checked???

REVIEW & OUTLOOK
MARCH 11, 2011

Get the Lead Out, Sir
Nutty test standards give Obama a real chance to help business.

President Obama has been on a campaign to shake his antibusiness reputation, so a good place to start would be to revisit the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, a mess of a law that has put new burdens on small businesses.

In 2008, Congress passed the law in a rush to do something after a scare over lead in toys imported from China. Its problems were quickly apparent, sweeping products from books to bicycles into the dragnet for lead standards. But while businesses pleaded, Democrats stood behind it as a pinnacle of consumer protection while blaming the Consumer Product Safety Commission for any enforcement problems.

The CPSC has done what it can to allay the fiasco of unintended costs and disruptions for small businesses, including staying large portions of the law. But as Commissioner Nancy Nord told House Democrats last year, the language of the bill is drafted in such a way that fixing all the problems is impossible because the “exclusions and exemptions process is not workable.”

Instead of being able to focus energy on products that present real risks to kids, the CPSC’s staff has had to regulate products that pose no harm. The likelihood of a toddler swallowing an all-terrain vehicle, for instance, didn’t stop that product from being swept into the maw.

The law also requires the CPSC to propose the parameters of a third-party lead testing regime, but the issue is so mired in complexity that the commission has yet to set those standards. Under the proposed version of this so-called “15 Month Rule,” Learning Resources Chairman Rick Woldenberg has estimated that supplying multiple testing samples on each of his company’s toys and products will cost his company some $15 million per year.

It gets worse. In August, the lead standard is set to go down to 100 parts per million from the current level of 300 parts per million. Like the earlier step down, the new standard is supposed to be retroactive when it goes into effect, meaning that it will apply to toys and children’s products manufactured before that date, which were perfectly legal when they were made. All five CPSC commissioners have said they don’t believe the new standards should be retroactive when they go into effect this summer.

At a hearing in the House Energy and Commerce Committee in February, California Democrat Henry Waxman defended the law as “necessary to protect kids and families across the country.” We wonder how he figures that, since the incidence of lead poisoning from toys made by domestic manufacturers is nil.

Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton and Subcommittee Chair Mary Bono-Mack have said they will soon introduce a bill that would finally end a regime that has clobbered small businesses with ill-conceived regulations. If Mr. Obama wants to help small business job creation, he could agree that the government doesn’t need to mandate a lead testing protocol for every product known to man.

Read more here:
CPSIA – WSJ’s 8th Editorial Against the CPSIA

CPSIA – Consumer Group Testimony at CPSC 100 ppm Lead Standard Hearing 2-16-11

I have prepared some clips from the CPSC hearing on 100 ppm Lead Standard on February 16, 2011. I have not prepared comprehensive clips on every presentation. For instance, I omitted the testimony of the testing companies from the second panel (here’s a hint – guess what they are ready and willing to do?). If you want to see video that I have not delivered to you on a silver platter, check out the CPSC video of the Morning Session (consumer groups and testing companies) and Afternoon Session (industry representatives, including my testimony).

There is a lot of interesting testimony not in my clips, in particular in the afternoon. Although I think I am giving you a lot of relevant information in the clips I prepared, you are always welcome to check my work. I was quite impressed by the other presenters in the afternoon session, and the vigorous and interesting discussion that followed, but anticipated that you would not likely spend 4-5 hours watching the entire thing. If that floats your boat, please enjoy the links above.

In this post, I am embedding several clips from the morning session where the consumer groups stated their “case”. I hesitate to characterize the testimony as “tall tales” but watch for yourself and see what you think. I have come to believe that the consumer groups will say ANYTHING to prop up their beloved CPSIA. [Consider the laughable "consumer poll" prepared by the Consumers Union promoted by Henry Waxman on the eve of the House Hearings on February 17, 2011. CU shamed themselves with this pathetic effort to "win" the debate with garbage polling data.] This may include the remarkable hyperbole in the clips below. We can speculate among ourselves whether Don Mays really shakes with fear at the thought of his daughter playing a brass instrument (he says he would be “very concerned”).

Likewise, does Dr. Dana Best believe the nonsense statistics she flung around last week, like the one about ingesting an object with 300 ppm lead costing a child four IQ points? Please, dear G-d, that statistic is absurd on its face. The assertion that children are losing four IQ points from swallowing objects with trace levels of lead is irresponsible and misleading at a minimum, and something much worse if done with understanding or intent. The spectacle of Ms. Best’s testimony included calculations of the “cost” of 1 million injured children DESPITE the inability of any consumer group to produce the case history of a single child injured from lead-in-substrate in children’s product EVER. [I replied to Dana Best in my testimony.]

We must hold Dana Best responsible for the words that came from her mouth. Interestingly, Dr. Best was the only nominal author of the seminal testimony on lead in the CPSIA debacle. According to her colleague Cindy Pelligrini, Dr. Best didn’t write her 2007 Congressional testimony (Pelligrini told me in a phone interview in 2008 that she wrote it for Dr. Best to deliver). Did Dr. Best write last week’s testimony or was it another Cindy Pelligrini job? One can’t help but wonder, given the shocking assertions based on misleading and garbled data. The AAP should be ashamed.

Dr. Dana Best (AAP) on losing IQ points and “millions” of victims:

Dr. Dana Best worries about children licking their bicycles . . .

My 17 year old daughter came along on this adventure and at breakfast the next morning, asked me why a child would like their sibling’s bike rather than their parent’s? After all, the adult bike is not regulated. I thought that was a good point, and added that if we posit that the child was going to lick something inappropriately, why would they lick a bike – why not the family car, which is coated with lead paint? Of course, I got it wrong. I was later corrected by someone who, after listening to this story, reminded me that the two year old wouldn’t lick either bike or even the car – they would play in the pool of oil under the car. You can take it from there . . . .

Don Mays (Consumers Union) and Dana Best (AAP) on the frightening prospect of children playing in brass bands:

Read more here:
CPSIA – Consumer Group Testimony at CPSC 100 ppm Lead Standard Hearing 2-16-11

CPSIA – House Hearings Questions about Rock Labels

Rep Butterfield questioned me about whether we REALLY needed to place labels on our rock kits indicating that our rocks might contain lead. As you may recall, I wrote about this last week and provided the clear explanation that the CPSIA bans the sale of any children’s product which has components that may contain lead. That includes rocks in rock kits. Oops. I have embedded the clip of his query below, followed by a clip where Rep. Cassidy (a medical doctor) attempts to clarify the situation further.

I think it is important to note that Mr. Butterfield was making a point he believed in. He was gracious to me and my children before the hearing and I don’t wish to question his intelligence here. I mean no insult or disrespect. Actually, the implication of his question is significant. He had days to study up on this question (he had a copy of my remarks in advance) and relied on Democratic counsel to the committee to analyze this legal point. He and his lawyers got it plainly wrong. As you will see below, Nancy Cowles also fumbled this same ball. The law CLEARLY requires this label of me, and it’s THEIR law (the CPSIA). So what do I conclude? The Dems and the safety zealots don’t understand the workings of the law they so vigorously defend. I believe this speaks directly to the challenge operating businesses face. If the authors don’t get it, how are we supposed to? The answer is self-evident.

The question of WHY they continue to push so hard for a law they don’t understand remains open. I don’t think we can assert that they are bad people or dumb. If that’s the case, and it is, what are they up to? I will chip away at this point in coming days.

Rep. Butterfield on rocks:

Rep. Cassidy on rocks:

Read more here:
CPSIA – House Hearings Questions about Rock Labels

CPSIA – House Hearing Testimony of Jolie Fay and Wayne Morris

Testimony of Jolie Fay, HTA Board Member:

Testimony of Wayne Morris, Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM):

Read more here:
CPSIA – House Hearing Testimony of Jolie Fay and Wayne Morris

CPSIA – ICPHSO Keynote Speech by Inez Tenenbaum

This speech will no doubt be posted on the CPSC website shortly. I will add the link later, please forgive any errors in these notes.

Reviewed 2010 efforts and achievements.

1. New crib standards (“vastly improved”).
2. Baby bath seats and walker rules
3. Cadmium in jewelry and children’s products (held off what might have been a repeat of the lead recall fiasco). Turned back some shipments at the port. Are now screening for cadmium when they find low lead levels in children’s products. Looking at cadmium in substrate in toys and in children’s products generally. Technical staff has made their position on these issues “abundantly clear”.
4. Toy safety improved. Recalls reduced from 172 in 2008 to 50 in 2009 to 44 in 2010. Lead recalls in 2010 were THREE. [RW: Obviously, lead is a huge issue.] This has helped to “restore” consumer confidence in toys.
5. Drywall initiative with HUD. Warnings about sleep positioners and baby slings.

As for 2011,

1. Looking forward to a “civil discussion” of the issues in 2011. The Commissioners go out to lunch together and aren’t like the Sopranos. The Commission is not fractious. 85% of our votes are unanimous. We do disagree from time to time, but “hope to do so without personal or disparaging attacks”.
2. 2010 was the year of the Consumer and 2011 will be “the year to get connected with the CPSC”. [RW: Last year she promised us that 2011 would be the year of enforcement. I guess that lays ahead . . . .]
3. Will implement the Five Year Strategic Plan
4. Wants to use Neal Cohen’s office
5. Launch the new database, assuming the government is “still open”.
6. Continuing new Section 104 rules, Pool Safely initiative, educating consumers about safe sleep.

“Knocking on the door” on being the global leader in consumer product safety. Looking for an “even more rigorous” identification process for product hazards. Will turn hazard identification into injury reduction. Want “safety built into the products intended for our store shelves.”

Touts her agency’s agreement with the Chinese government on toy safety. Sampling and testing in China will help assure safety.

Touts Neal Cohen’s efforts, and the efforts of the CPSC Beijing office. Re Small Business Ombudsman, it is dedicated “touch point” for small business for education. Many manufacturers might not know where to turn for information or to fully implement the new rules. Not trying to take away business from outside counsel. [She really said this.] Wants to facilitate the transfer of knowledge across industries.

[No mention of SBO advocating for small business or playing an active role in RESOLVING rules disputes or problems. Hmmm. A shoulder to cry on?]

Looking at a shifting supply base, bringing other countries into play. We’re looking to prevent a repeat of the China problems.

Re toxic metals, lead and cadmium requirements are intended to create safeguards for the future. Need to expand our vision beyond lead and cadmium. She’s got a nice long list of new things to be scared of. We want to be “leaders” in preventing harm from these metals. Need to avoid exposure from the substrate of toys or other products.

[RW: I think a few more tests will do us ALL a lot of good! I am CRAZY to stick around in this industry.]

Back to new crib standards. Cribs must be replaced by end of 2012 to come into compliance with the new rules. [RW: Stimulus plan!] Cribs compliant with the new rules will be available by June, we hope. Lots new rules in “safe sleep” and other juvenile products.

Database ready to roll in two weeks. Don’t forget to ask CF “more questions” today at 4 PM. ["More" questions?] She respectfully disagrees with objections to the database. Her pledge is that they will educate consumers that the report should be accurate and safety-based. Let’s not let perfect be the enemy of the good. Data warehouse will promote greater efficiency. Consumers will be more “empowered”. If consumers withdraw products while the CPSC is working behind the scenes to issue a recall, that’s a good thing in her view.

[RW: Is it a "good thing" if they withdraw from using products that are safe or are not subject to recall? Hmmm. That question was unaddressed.]

Recounts her advice on how to amend the CPSIA (functional purpose exception, should get the lead out if it’s “practical” to be removed, 100 ppm should be prospective only, and small businesses and small batch manufacturers deserve some relief). Will work with Congress on other changes.

She says, change it but don’t end it. Hmmm. Certainly remains open to making old suggested changes to the law.

Finally, pleased to share that starting on March 1, will launch the Chairman’s Commendation Circle Program. There will be more details about the nomination process. Wants to highlight innovators and those who are working to prevent injuries every day. [Hmmm.]

Have the right team in place, willing to take action against those who don’t follow the law. Forging a new regulatory approach with predictability and consumer confidence. If all of us can be partners in this effort, can build on the progress made in recent years.

RW: This is BY FAR the least threatening speech by Ms. Tenenbaum since she ascended to her chairmanship. Let’s hope this signals a significant shift in tone and direction.

Read more here:
CPSIA – ICPHSO Keynote Speech by Inez Tenenbaum

CPSIA – New York Times Notices the CPSIA

The New York Times this evening gave some coverage to last week’s hearings in an article entitled “Child-Product Makers Seek to Soften New Rules“. Reflecting the usual bias of the Times against business, the article intones: “Emboldened by a Republican majority in the House of Representatives, manufacturers of toys and other children’s products are making a last-ditch effort to quash new safety regulations that they say are unfair or too onerous . . . . The manufacturers are also trying to scale back new regulations, drafted by the commission, that would require third-party testing to determine the safety and lead content of children’s products. They have found a receptive audience among House Republicans.” [Emphasis added]

So let me ask you, does it appear that I am “emboldened” by the Republican majority in the House? Is that accurate? As I recall, I began working against this excessive and irresponsible legislation in September 2007 and began my “war” with intensity when I was invited to present at the CPSC Lead Panel on November 6, 2008. That was more than two years ago, long before the “emboldening” Republican majority. In fact, I worked hard in the last election to put the Republican majority into office.

Why?

Because no one on the other side of the aisle would listen. What the NYT noticed is that someone is listening . . . finally.

Am I trying to “quash” the legislation? I think that’s an unrealistic goal and have never asked for it. I have stated repeatedly that the legislation has few achievements to boast about and that it is defective as drafted (can’t be fixed). It is also killing jobs, companies, markets and products. It needs to go but, as noted, I think that’s unrealistic. I think fixing it is the best we can hope for.

And I promise that our efforts are not “last ditch”. We’re not going to be done until the CPSIA is fixed.

The article goes on to note that at least one Democrat thinks the CPSIA stinks: “Other lawmakers, including at least one Democrat, Representative John D. Dingell of Michigan, suggested that new regulations requiring third-party testing of all children’s products for safety and lead were too broad and needed to be revised.” John Dingell, who’s he? “At least one Democrat . . . .” Ummm, Mr. Dingell is not only the longest serving member of Congress in the history of the United States but he also happens to be the longstanding Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce who also sponsored the legislation to create the CPSC in 2972. I think he is something more than just another Democrat – he is a major historical figure and a person of great standing in this matter. When he came out against the CPSIA on Thursday, he broke with Waxman and stood up for the TRUTH.

The Times gives the consumer groups the last word: “Representatives of consumer groups, meanwhile, are fretting. They said they were worried that the tougher standards they fought for, and seemed to have finally won, were now in jeopardy. ‘You have folks who are seeing that there is a chance to undo consumer protections that they never liked in the first place,’ said Ami Gadhia, policy counsel for Consumers Union.”

That’s true – we never liked the law in the first place. It is a massive waste of money, is hurting markets, companies, jobs and kids, has mired the agency and industry in a three year mud fight and isn’t making anyone safer.

It’s time to end the posturing and the story telling. We need to fix this awful law before it kills more companies and more products. How many companies need to die before Congress and the New York Times gets the message?

Read more here:
CPSIA – New York Times Notices the CPSIA

CPSIA – A Fuller Response to Rep. Butterfield

At yesterday’s hearing, Ranking Member Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC) questioned our use of a strange lead label on our rock kits. We mark our rock kits with a label that says “Caution: Federal law requires us to advise that THE ROCKS in this educational product may contain lead and might be harmful if swallowed.” We also mark fossil kits with a similar label. I characterize this label as humiliating to us.

As I often say to people, these labels only tell half the story. We don’t warn people to not eat our rocks for the real reason – that they are rocks. Eating rocks can break your teeth. Eating fossils destroys our fossil record, too. This is not a good idea.

Mr. Butterfield questioned whether this label was really a CPSIA issue. I can understand the confusion. As I testified, we have to work hard to master the 3,000+ pages of CPSIA rules and law that pertain to our business. We have 5.5 people in our QC department now, including me, and an outside lawyer to help us, too. After about three years of work, we think we have a pretty good idea about how the rules work. Maybe on a good day . . . .

Much of this gobbledygook makes no sense – and count this example as Exhibit A for nonsense rules. I testified that I did not want to use this label and that we had a one hour conference call with our lawyer over this one label. I was overruled – we had to use it. I was not happy and remain miffed over the label.

Why did we have to do it?

Well, we sell rock kits that are intended for kids and schools. There’s no question about that. If you make a product aimed at kids, every part has to be lead-free, even if it’s a rock, a fossil or something else made by G-d long before man showed up to roam the Earth. We can’t “assure” ourselves that we are selling lead-free rocks because every rock is different. G-d’s QC processes predate the CPSIA, you see. Anyhow, to sell rocks to kids, rather than sell them pictures of rocks in our kits, we need an “out”. Otherwise, I suppose we risk jail time.

Hey, I didn’t write the damn law. Don’t blame me . . . .

Fortunately, there is a little crack in the veneer that allows us to keep selling rock and fossil kits. This section from the CPSC’s Q&A gives us a way to keep going:

“Are chemistry sets, science education sets and other educational materials excluded from the lead limits for content and paint and surface coatings if they bear adequate labeling under 16 C.F.R. § 1500.85?

16 C.F.R. § 1500.85 provides that certain articles that are intended for children for educational purposes are exempt for classification as a banned hazardous substance under the FHSA and the lead limits under CPSIA if the functional purpose of the particular educational item requires inclusion of the hazardous substance, and it bears labeling giving adequate directions and warnings for safe use, and is intended for use by children who have attained sufficient maturity, and may reasonably be expected, to read and heed such directions and warnings. For example, an electronics kit or robotics kit would be considered educational and the inclusion of a lead-containing component would not subject the kit to the lead testing requirements because the use of lead in some components is required to make the electronic device. Similarly, the materials used for examination or experimentation for science study such as soil, rocks, chemicals, dissections, etc. would also be exempt.” [Emphasis added]

In my opinion, this is shameful and wrong and misleading to consumers, but it’s our only choice. The CPSIA forces us to hire lawyers to figure out how to legally bend over, pick up a rock, put it in a box and sell it.

I have boldly decided to not label the flagstones leading to my front door because they’re not “Children’s Products”. If Trick-or-Treaters choose to lick the sidewalk on the way to our door next October, no one can blame me!

Blame Congress instead.

Read more here:
CPSIA – A Fuller Response to Rep. Butterfield

CPSIA – Canada Tries to "Out-Stupid" Us – Is that EVEN Possible?

When I went to Toronto one year ago to attend the international ICPHSO conference, I came away impressed with the sensibility of the Health Canada folks. They were grounded, they were calm and reflective, they seemed to understand that the CPSIA went too far and was not needed as the basis for Canadian law. I left with a sense of admiration and confidence in them.

And one year later – they are showing troubling signs of declining IQ points, a possible sign of lead poisoning! In a stunning turn of events, Canada apparently has decided to play one-upsmanship with the United States. Not satisfied at losing in the international arena of regulatory lunacy, Canada proceeded to tighten up our oh-so-loose CPSIA lead standards.

Editorial Pause Here – Someday I want to see governments everywhere refer to INJURY STATISTICS when they call for new laws to make people safer. To figure out if people are “unsafe”, one must certainly know if they are being injured . . . right? You’d really want to be able to measure that, wouldn’t you? Please tell me you understand this point . . . . Soooo, if one chooses to argue that we are harming children with “too much” lead in children’s products, isn’t incumbent on the accuser to demonstrate in some meaningful way that the harm we will spend zillions to “eliminate” actually exists, you know, at a bare minimum? Shouldn’t we demand a higher standard of justification than “it stands to reason”?

Back to Canada – Canada announced on November 29th “the most stringent rules in the world” on lead. The Canadians have decided that lead limits should be 90 ppm for toys and any product other than a kitchen utensil intended to come in contact with the mouth for children three years old and under. They will also join us at 90 ppm for lead-in-paint.

Please recall that the dirt in Mr. Obama’s backyard tested for lead at higher levels than 90 ppm. His DIRT. So now we know he won’t be able make toys or teething rings out of his dirt and sell those products in Canada. Finally, the menace is contained!

So why did they do this? “Health Canada says the new limits are needed because while reputable companies do their best to ensure lead has not been added intentionally to their products, companies can still run into trouble with quality control when importing huge volumes of goods in complex supply chains.”

Oh, I see – it’s the fault of darkest China! Good Canadians wouldn’t do this but those evil people in their complex supply chains – they can’t be trusted.

I would toss this off as some kind of joke other than the fact that this creates a massive business problem for us. And, of course, after the cynical and ignorant politicians get past congratulating themselves on saving the populace (from what?), there will be great mystery about what happened to variety of playthings in Canada or why educational products are much harder to find. What a mystery that will be!

As an American supplier of many Canadian school supply dealers and Canadian schools (we make Canada-specific educational products), I want to note that we have never had a single accusation of injury in Canada from any of our products since we were founded in 1984. I do not relish attempting to meet this asinine standard, lower than the loathsome U.S. standard of 100 ppm due to come into being in August for no particular reason other than to kill jobs. Will anyone feel sorry for me when we get our first test report showing lead levels of 93 ppm on a single part in an assembled toy? In other words, compliant with the U.S., but 3 parts-per-million above the arbitrary trace standards of Canada? Nah, it will be ours to savor – no one will care. We have to make children safe, safe, safe and who could put a price of the safety of our children?!

I don’t know how long we will sell products for kids under three in Canada if this law goes forward. Perhaps the Canadians figure the kids can start to be educated after three.

Maybe Canada really has a chance to out-stupid us if they keep this up. Bully for you, Canada! And I thought it couldn’t be done . . . .

Read more here:
CPSIA – Canada Tries to "Out-Stupid" Us – Is that EVEN Possible?

CPSIA – Wingnut or Dingbat, You Make the Call!

Hey, it’s her words – is Deborah Blum a “wingnut” or a “dingbat”? In her blogpost from earlier today, Ms. Blum takes Inez Tenenbaum to task for her sins in not clamping down HARDER on American businesses stupid enough to continue selling children’s products. Ms. Blum is apparently a journalism professor at the University of Wisconsin.

As an aside, I must say I had the mildest twinge of sympathy for Ms. Tenenbaum after I read Blum’s blogpost. This is not my usual emotion when thinking about the CPSC Chairman, but heck, there’s no winning for her, is there? I don’t want her job.

Ms. Blum’s contention is so asinine that it hardly bears repeating except that apparently Twitter is alive with tweets and re-tweets of her blogpost. Her thesis is that Ms. Tenenbaum tolerates excessive amounts of lead in children’s products and explains it thus:

“So I’ve come up with a nice little conspiracy theory. You and your business partners are tired of low-income consumers. They can only afford dirt-cheap crap from China, their purchases don’t add up enough to float the balance sheets. So, of course, you aren’t protecting them with tougher regulations. Of course, American corporations aren’t investing in safer products. Slowly but surely, one piece of jewelry, one pair of plastic boots at a time, you’re getting rid of everyone who doesn’t matter enough to be kept safe. Sure it sounds crazy. But is it any crazier than importing poisoned goods for almost ten years without looking for alternatives or better safety systems? I don’t think so. So who’s the wingnut now?” [Emphasis added]

Hey, Ms. Blum, I can answer that one – YOU are the wingnut.

Pot calling the kettle black, I think Ms. Blum shows why some blogs must be “discounted”. She makes about every possible reactive error in assessing the lead “problem” in children’s products:

• She confuses CPSC lead recalls (according to her, 289 since 2001 – “more than 30 recalls every single year”) with lead injuries. Hysteria over the POSSIBILITY of injury without bothering to assess the PROBABILITY of injury is how we got into this mess in the first place. I am sorry Ms. Blum is so easily rattled but isn’t the data on injuries relevant? I have documented one reported death and three unverified injuries from lead in this period of time. Should we turn our lives upside down to reduce that risk further? This only amplifies my call for a National Xanax Fund.
• She reasons from headlines but shows little mastery of the actual facts. She cites the recall of McDonald’s Shrek glasses (“McDonald’s recalled more than 12 million “Shrek 3″ glasses contaminated with the toxic metal cadmium (and also a little lead)”) but fails to note that the CSPC has acknowledged in WRITING that the glasses were safe. She also cites the AP’s recent report of lead and cadmium in enamel baked on certain glasses, but fails to note that the AP also admitted that the health risk was low or that the presence of these heavy metals is LEGAL in enamels of this type. Congress did that, and how could we EVER doubt Congress?!
• Ms. Blum repeats the junk science notion that if lead is bad in some cases, it MUST be bad in all cases. She absurdly compares lead in enamel with lead in drinking water, and then asks why there aren’t standards to protect adults from the dangers of lead in enamels. Ms. Blum, can I see your turnip truck?
• Ms. Blum plays the China card, a jingoistic line of reasoning used by blamestormers. We make many of our products in China, and I consider this kind of finger pointing a contemporary form of racism. I have a lot of experience with Chinese sources, and have good reason to trust our trading partners. Ms. Blum regrettably has no idea what she is talking about when she blames “China”, as though we all buy from the government of China. We do business with other privately-owned companies, not “China”. It may make the world seem less complex to equate “cheap” with “poor quality” or “dangerous”. It is not accurate, however.

If the Deborah Blums of the world get the upper hand in this regulatory mess, they will solve the lead problem, I am sure. It won’t be a solution you will like, nor will it be effective. Lead was here before Deborah Blum roamed the Earth and will here after she’s gone – it’s an ELEMENT, after all. No law can banish it, and no economy can survive if lead must be eliminated in all forms from all products, even in unharmful trace amounts.

She will succeed, however, in killing off all companies that make children’s products. That will solve the “problem” she is apparently obsessed with, but will create other, more serious ones.

Let’s hope we don’t continue to slide down this slippery slope led by people who can’t decide if they are wingnuts or dingbats. It’s a tough call, I’ll admit. She might be both.

Read more here:
CPSIA – Wingnut or Dingbat, You Make the Call!

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