I can't imagine why I hadn't heard this before, but the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission was going to require all children's products, including books (geared to youngsters under the age of 12) be certified free of harmful lead by February 10, 2009. Librarians are breathing a sigh of relief after being granted a temporary immunity from lead-testing laws. This law would have forced public and school libraries to toss books, ban children from touching them or testing each of the books for lead. Congress passed the act in August following the 2007 recall of millions of lead-tainted toys, most produced in China.
A one-year stay on legislation was approved for the commission to consider exempting certain products and materials from testing and to better specify when testing is required and how it is to be carried out. Libraries now have a little room to breath, but this extension is not an end to the problem.
Susan
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