Consumer Products Safety Commission: Children products

The Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) was formed in the 1970s and for more than 30 years, it has taken the responsibility of protecting consumers against risks of injuries resulting from the usage of unsafe products. In addition, Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) was signed into the United States law to further strengthen the safety measures required in consumer products.

Most recently, through the law, the Commission has aimed to substantially reduce children’s exposure to lead. Lead poisoning may result in irreversible brain damage, kidney problems and even death. In the late 1970s, the problem was so serious, that millions of children in America had been tested that they had 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 seen as dangerous. 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 Commission has also described that any person at the age of 12 years or younger would be seen as children under the law and all products that were made 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 also requires all goods that were manufactured after 90 days since the establishment of the rule to be tested by an accredited third party. This is to ensure that the manufacturers comply to the safety rules that the Commission has enforced.

In addition, they have shown their dedication in ensuring all children products extremely safe for use by intending to drop the limits to 300ppm in August and further reduce it again in 2011 to a level which is seen justifiable to the availability of technology 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.