Posted on 02/09/2009 7:10:32 AM PST by StarCMC
With Congress saying get the lead out, local retailers and librarians are wondering if common sense gets chucked along with it.
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which goes into effect Feb. 10, is meant to protect children from lead-laden products. But when the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission gave libraries two options, get rid of all your childrens books or ban anyone under 12 from entering the library, librarians across the country waited for the punch line. But it never came.
I was speechless, said Mary Beth Revels, director of the St. Joseph Public Library. To know it wasnt a joke and those were our choices.
After discussing the situation with the library board, she deduced that they would not pack away the librarys 70,000 childrens books and they werent going to close the library doors to children.
We felt that if libraries didnt comply with this across the country, that we would be taking a stand of continuing to connect children with books, Ms. Revels said.
The publishing industry has tested the lead content in books, Ms. Revels said, and the levels are within legal limits. But the commission wont recognize those tests because they werent carried out in a certified lab.
But there are no certified labs, she said incredulously.
And though librarians cant give an estimate of how many of their childrens books end up in the mouths of readers, Ms. Revels said theyve never had to replace a book destroyed by an orally fixated patron.
Luckily, libraries have received a reprieve that will last one year, and the commission will consider which products should be exempt from the law.
But local motorcycle shops that sell kid bikes arent so lucky. They will not be allowed to sell motorcycles to children as of Feb. 10.
Motorcycles contain lead parts on the batteries and various other areas of the engine.
Its so stupid, said Mike McBride, owner of McBrides Yamaha on the Belt Highway. Youd have to suck on an engine case for hours a day to get any lead out of it.
Hes got about 10 motorcycles that hell have to pull off the showroom floor on the 10th if he doesnt sell them first, which he said wont happen.
With fines up to $150,000, Mr. McBride said hes not going to risk keeping them on the floor. Instead, hell pay interest on them until it gets resolved.
I think everybody thought (the commission) would have a flash of common sense, but that didnt happen, he said.
Jimmy Myers can be reached at jimmym@npgco.com.
BTTT
ACT NOW before the quickly approaching deadlines:1) Email or call the CPSIA - the office of the CPSC ombudsman at 888-531-9070. http://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/newleg.aspx
Comments on Component Parts Testing accepted through January 30, 2009. Or email: Sec102ComponentPartsTesting@cpsc.gov
2) Contact your local representatives. For their contact informa-tion, just enter your zip code. http://capwiz.com/americanapparel/dbq/officials/
3) Make your voice heard by voting on this issue! The top 3 in each category will be presented to President-elect Obama. http://change.org/ideas/view/save_handmade_toys_from_the_cpsia
4) Sign the petition.
http://ipetitions.com/petition/economicimpactsofCPSIA/index.html
5) Spread the word! Forward this article. Send an email. Write about this on your blog. Tell others about this issue and encourage them to do the same.
This legislation is nothing more than another attempt to control our lives. You are pushing your socialist nanny-state agenda down our throats and I do NOT appreciate it. Where are the studies that tell us how many children have been injured per year by chewing on books manufactured before 1985? How many children have died as a result of sucking on ATV batteries that contain lead? What about those used clothes - how many lead poisonings have been documented as a result of clothes bought at used clothing stores and garage sales? I hazard you would be hard pressed to produce any substantial numbers for these or any other of the ridiculous things your legislation will "ban" in an effort to "protect" the children. Even an elementary school student has to show their work when turning in their math assignments. Please go back to the drawing board and keep quiet until you can show us yours. Ridiculous!
It used to be 40 ug/mL, they’ve arbitrarily lowered it twice. Now it is down to 10 ug/mL. Take a look at the individual reports. They are creating an epidemic by fiat.
I don’t see any evidence of cause and effect, especially at these low levels. If there is no clear disease path, who can know how low is low enough?
At 70 ug/mL they’ve got nobody with the proper pathology. Is lead really this dangerous to kids? Enough to do all this to an entire country? Wouldn’t targeting those most at risk make the best sense?
They are getting high numbers, but only when they lower the acceptable blood levels. I don’t buy it. Dose makes the poison. Oxygen, water, etc. are poisonous at the right dose.
I believe in hormesis - some injury to the body actually strengthens it and the immune system. Think allergies, colds, flus, vaccines, radiation, etc.
This is not over-zealousness. This is evil little hilters who use their filthy little bureaucratic job to screw people’s lives up. They do it for pleasure.
Aren't they already banning books in schools?
Those Dead White Western Males the NEA doesn't like.
How would the kids know that socialism and secular humanism are wrong
when they can't study the Bible or Christian ethics in school?
Why don't you just go back to licking bureaucratic boots. If you want to be their slave, go be their slave, and leave the rest of us alone.
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which goes into effect Feb. 10, is meant to protect children from lead-laden products. But when the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission gave libraries two options, get rid of all your childrenâs books or ban anyone under 12 from entering the library, librarians across the country waited for the punch line. But it never came.Al Gore was right -- kids are right, parents are wrong. No more need for books. The debate is over.
Lighten up. Obviously it was a joke.
No less an authority than the CDC has stated that the only allowable threshold for children for secondhand smoke is zero.
What happened to parents? It's the parent's job to teach ethics to their kids, not the school's. (For one thing.) And for another, you are talking to a homeschooler, so I personally choose to teach my children at home. But I do know a slew of public school parents who do a darn good job of teaching their kids the truth as well.
Its so stupid, said Mike McBride, owner of McBrides Yamaha on the Belt Highway. Youd have to suck on an engine case for hours a day to get any lead out of it.
This would be so hysterically funny if it weren’t so ridiculous.
Which logical fallacy are they operating under? Because we said so?
Science at its worst!
You forgot to put the /joke indicator at the bottom of your post. For many anti-motorcycle folks, your comment would have been par for the course. We took it as a typical anti-bike post.
North Texas PGR here. Didn’t know there was a PGR pinglist.
The government won't wonder why. They won't even care.
HAHAHA!
Love it.
The principle of using health as the guiding force for legislative and bureaucratic diktats is flowering wonderfully.
NANNYISM UBER ALLES!
This is SOP. They lower the amount they consider "dangerous" then scream about how many more people are affected. This has ben done many times, with many different things. All people notice is the headline that screams about the increase. They don't notice that the increase is entirely created by arbitrarily changing definitions.
To paraphrase Orwell in a high-octane way,
The bookburners will find some books more ethyl than others.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.