Posted by Jonathan Adler:
The End of Vintage Kids' Books?
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_08_02-2009_08_08.shtml#1249340466
Some readers were confused about my comment below that the Consumer
Product Safety Improvement Act is having a negative impact on used
booksellers. In short, the CPSIA bars the sale of children's books
printed before 1985 due to concern that the ink might contain lead. As
the [1]Washington Post reported:
Legislation passed by Congress last August in response to fears of
lead-tainted toys imported from China went into effect last month.
Consumer groups and safety advocates have praised it for its
far-reaching protections. But libraries and book resellers such as
Goodwill are worried about one small part of the law: a ban on
distributing children's books printed before 1985.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the agency
charged with enforcing the act, lead in the books' inks could make
its way into the mouths of little kids. Goodwill is calling for a
change in the legislation even as it clears its shelves to comply,
and libraries are worried they could be the next ones scrubbing
their shelves. . . .
Scientists are emphatic that lead, which was common in paints
before its use was banned in 1978, poses a threat to the neural
development of small children. But they disagree about whether
there is enough in the ink in children's books to warrant concern.
. . .
The legislation, which passed with strong bipartisan support, was a
reaction to lead's being discovered on and in thousands of imported
toys, mostly from China, in 2007. It restricts lead content in
products designed for children age 12 and younger to 600 parts per
million by weight; the threshold drops to 300 parts per million in
August of this year. Items as varied as bikes and jewelry are
affected.
So are books such as "Madeleine," "Goodnight Moon" and "Corduroy."
Lead was phased out of printer's ink following the 1978 paint ban;
lacking a firm date for when it effectively disappeared, the safety
commission has ruled that the toxic metal might be found in any
book printed before 1985. . . .
Implementation of the new law has libraries and secondhand
bookstores reeling. Although they could pay to have each old book
tested, the cost ($300 to $600 a book, according to the American
Library Association) makes that impractical.
For more on this, see [2]Walter Olson's City Journal article, "The New
Book Banning," as well as [3]his stuff on Overlawyered.com,
specifically [4]this post.
References
1.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/23/AR2009032301764.html?sid=ST2009032302266
2. http://city-journal.org/2009/eon0212wo.html
3. http://overlawyered.com/tag/cpsia-and-books/
4. http://overlawyered.com/2009/02/cpsia-and-vintage-books/
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