The Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) was formed in the 1970s and till now, it has taken charge of protecting consumers against risks of injuries resulting from the use of consumer products. Under the Commission, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) was signed into the United States law to further strengthen the safety measures required in consumer products.
Lately, through the law, the Commission has aimed to substantially reduce children’s exposure to lead. The resultant destruction that lead poisoning causes includes brain damage, kidney problems and may even be fatal. In the late 1970s, the problem was so serious, that there were millions of children in the United States with elevated blood lead levels that were deemed unhealthy!
The CPSC noticed the severity of the situation and have concluded that any children’s product that contains more than 600 parts per million (ppm) of lead in any part of an accessible product would be deemed as hazardous. Which means that any children’s product from toys to baby nursery bedding which contains more than 600ppm would be dangerous for children under the CPSIA.
The CPSC has also defined that any individual younger than or at 12 years of age would be seen as children under the eyes of the law and all goods that were manufactured with the intention of selling mainly to the these group of children will have to comply to it.
This law also applies to all baby nursery bedding, nursery decoration, toys and children’s products that were manufactured before the date of the law that was implemented. The Commission has enforced that all goods that were manufactured after 90 days since the creation of the rule to be assessed by an accredited third party. This is to ensure that the manufacturers comply to the safety regulations that the Commission has enforced.
In addition, they have shown their dedication in ensuring all children products non-toxic by planning to reduce the limits to 300ppm in August and further reduce it again in 2011 to a level which is seen reasonable according to the technology available by then. However, with the rapid advancement of technology, all toys and baby nursery bedding might contain only traces of lead and would be extremely safe for use in the near future.