Goodwill stores pull clothes, toys from shelves to comply with lead safety law

[babylonsister]

Goodwill stores pull clothes, toys from shelves to comply with lead safety law
BY SUZANNE PEREZ TOBIAS
The Wichita Eagle


Local Goodwill stores will no longer sell many children's clothes, toys and other items, citing liability concerns over new federal safety regulations that take effect today.

Painted toys and clothing with metal clasps or fasteners -- including blue jeans, coats and hooded jackets for children 12 and younger -- were pulled from store shelves Monday night, said Gayle Goetz, vice president of development for Goodwill Industries Easter Seals of Kansas.

The move affects 14 Goodwill stores in Kansas, including three in Wichita and one in Maize.

"We kept hoping we'd get some guidance, so we waited," Goetz said. "We had our legal committee look at it last night and determined that there's just too much liability."

At issue is the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, passed by Congress last year in response to widespread recalls of products that posed a threat to children, including toys made with lead or lead-based paint.

more...

http://www.kansas.com/topstories/story/695191.html

[K Gardner]

1. I wondered when we would see the effect of this. I'm waiting for it here. Shameful.

[elocs]

2. Again, the Law of Unintended Consequences comes into play. n/t

[Kittycat]

3. The rule was postponed one year. Also, they posted an exception

for second hand stores such as the goodwill.

ETA: I do have issues with the law, in that it was requiring testing of certified organic products, and threatened putting many wahm/wohm and small shops out of business, due to the testing fees.

My personal opinion, is that the testing needs to be done on the supply side of things, and not on the finished product. The same rules should apply whether it's a child or an adult item.

[taterguy]

4. So individual craftsmen would get screwed

If that rule applied to all consumer items the only stuff you'd be able to buy would be stuff produced by giant corporations that could afford the testing.

I like having dishes that are made by local artists.

[Kittycat]

7. No - that's not what I'm saying at all.

I'm saying that the supplies the artists buy, should be tested. Not the finish goods. I too like handmade/small company made items, and I'm a regular over at etsy. I also happen to be a crafter, so this hits very near and dear to my own heart. But if I buy a bolt of fabric, I believe the fabric should be pre-cert. The raw materials, not the final product.

[taterguy]

8. So someone makes crafts out of wood they cut themselves . . .

Who does the testing?

[KoKo]

9. Unless you paint it with Chinese Paint your natural wood product should be okay...

particularly if you paint with American paint where lead was outlawed a decade or more ago. Now...sadly, many of our paints are probably imported from China so how are we to know? But, agree with the Crafters that "Point of Origin" should be where it is. Why should any citizen crafter be held liable when using goods they think are American made but since they aren't marked as such could be made anywhere globally with substandard testing. :shrug:

[taterguy]

10. Is that your opinion or the law?

As far as I can tell the law imposes a very difficult burden on any small businessman.

[KoKo]

11. I had American Made dishes that were found to have lead in them...

from processing before America did testing for it. I threw them all out. Fiesta Ware. It was the "green and orange" that had the lead. Have a friend who used the orange dishes she had three kids and now has eight grandchildren who ate on those dishes that I threw out...and none of her kids have ANY health problems ...nor the grandkids. Who knows? Maybe she didn't make alot of acid type food (tomato sauce) that would cause the lead to leak out...whatever.

It's hard to know...but Chinese products seem to have more lead than anything we knew of before. More testing needs to be done.

[madrchsod]

5. really stupid but that`s america!

common sense gets lost in the shuffle...

[DCKit]

6. Homeless AND Nekkid!!! Thank Dog for Global Warming. n/t