CPSIA – WSJ’s 7th Editorial Against the CPSIA

From tonight’s Wall Street Journal website:

REVIEW & OUTLOOK
APRIL 6, 2010

Waxman’s Lead Poison

A fix of a bad law that is no fix at all.

The word “enhancement” is suspect in any form of advertising, and it turns out the same applies to Congress. In his forthcoming Consumer Product Safety Enhancement Act, House baron Henry Waxman is botching the opportunity to fix a bad law while adding provisions that make life even worse for small businesses.

Since the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act passed in 2008 after a scare over lead in toys from China, Democrats have defended their handiwork while blaming the Consumer Product Safety Commission for the law’s ruthless implementation. The CPSC, under Republicans and Democrats, has correctly replied that it lacks the discretion to judge whether a product really poses a threat of lead poisoning. It also can’t permit exemptions from the law based on risk, even for books or pogo sticks.

Mr. Waxman is insisting that any product applying for an exemption would still be subject to a three-pronged test to determine whether stripping lead from the product is “practicable or technologically feasible,” whether a product might end up in a child’s mouth and whether its exemption would affect public safety. In a response, CPSC Commissioner Nancy Nord explained that since all three tests have to be met for a product to qualify, “the exception is as empty as the exception for no absorption of any lead. Such a provision does not really help anyone.”

Equally problematic is a provision that would require companies to disclose previously confidential information about product concerns. Today, a company may file something called a Section 15 report acknowledging complaints or internal concerns about a product, and the report remains confidential unless there is a recall or similar action. Under the new law, those reports could become public immediately, which would discourage companies from filing them at all, further compromising the transparency Democrats claim to want.

If Mr. Waxman wants to enhance Congress’s original creation, he should start by letting product safety regulators consider whether products are safe.

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CPSIA – WSJ’s 7th Editorial Against the CPSIA

CPSIA – Mike Green Attacks Anne Northup in WSJ

In Thursday’s Wall Street Journal, Mike Green of the notorious Center for Environmental Health, a known Proposition 65 bounty hunter, attacked Commissioner Anne Northup for her criticisms of the CPSIA:

“Anne Northup notes that the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) passed with bipartisan support, so it is surprising to see her partisan attack on this children’s health protection law (“There Is No Joy in Toyland,” op-ed, Dec. 24). She states that lead in metals used in children’s products is not “bioavailable,” and thus cannot harm children. This will come as a shock to Juanna Graham, whose son died after swallowing a metal charm. At least eight other children have suffered lead poisoning after sucking on or swallowing small lead pieces from toys or jewelry.

Ms. Northup also errs in stating that lead is not absorbable in materials other than paint. Over the past five years we have found high levels of lead in numerous vinyl children’s items, including baby bibs, lunchboxes, rain gear, toys, and others. Independent lab tests showed that lead in these products can wipe off and expose children to unsafe levels of lead.

Michael Green
Executive Director
Center for Environmental Health
Oakland, Calif.”

This is nonsense, of course. It is very important to leave comments on this misleading and manipulative letter at the WSJ.com website. If you click at the link above, you will see a block to leave a comment. I left one and you should, too.

Thank you.

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CPSIA – Mike Green Attacks Anne Northup in WSJ