Tuesday, January 27, 2009

save handmade

“As of Feb. 10, it will become unlawful to make or sell anything intended
for use by children under 12 without a program to test the goods for lead
— even if no items of their kind have ever been found to pose a lead risk,
even if you make and sell only a few inexpensive items a year, even if
you've sourced their materials from the most conscientious local suppliers
and even if they're items toddlers seldom convey into their mouths, such as dartboards or bicycle tires."

Yeah. That's me. I make stuff for kids under 12 with materials that have never been found to pose a lead risk and I only sell a few inexpensive items a year. Plus, my materials are purchased from commercial manufacturers (one of the ill-defined points in this law) who are already required to pass their own level of tests. It's preposterous and poorly written by a government agency who seems to have cobbled together a law out of knee-jerk reaction rather than research or thought to the total impact.

So even if you raise sheep, shear their wool, spin it into thread, dye the thread with blueberry juice, felt or knit a stuffed toy, stuff the toy with that wool you sheared from your sheep, you would be required to pay a ridiculous fee to have that stuffed toy tested for lead, and that toy would, of course, most likely be destroyed during the testing procedures.

This is the reason why so many indie handcrafters and artisans are asking for changes and trying to prevent this from becoming law.

Go to the Etsy site for more information and the Action Kit, which has all the info you'll ever need about this issue and what you can do to get involved.

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