Posted by Tina
Conservatives can’t abide stupid regulation. One recent example, the lending regulations that forced banks to give home loans to people that weren’t qualified and couldn’t meet the payments, has proven to be devastatingly stupid. This morning I read about another stupid regulation, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. The law was intended to keep consumers safe but it has proven to be rediculously stringent and impossible to meet for manufacturers, retailers and even garage salers:
“Lead in the head – Safety regulations kill jobs” – Washington Times
** On June 22, Baby Sprouts Naturals went out of business. Congress killed it. Baby Sprouts Naturals is a small company making what it calls “natural, non-toxic baby products” such as “organic apparel,” toys and the like. None of the company’s products contains lead. But an anti-lead law Congress passed in 2008, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), has snared even this leadless company in its trap. **
*** Baby Sprouts Naturals is far from alone. Horror stories abound about small and large businesses, and, indeed, entire industries, closed or hobbled because of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. The law sets new, absurdly stringent limits on how much lead any children’s product can contain. It requires strict testing and labeling of all products intended for children and makes both manufacturers and retailers responsible for proving that such testing has taken place. It allows all 50 state attorneys general to take “enforcement” actions related to these issues and to hire outside counsel to do the legal work. It all but invites class-action lawsuits against children’s product suppliers. *** Ballpoint pen manufacturers, makers of children’s minibikes, used bookstores, thrift shops, vending-machine companies, clothing manufacturers, handmade toy outfits and all sorts of others are suffering because of various CPSIA provisions. Also hurt will be charities that resell donated products to raise money for social services. One result: The Salvation Army said that about 16,000 fewer people in substance-abuse rehabilitation programs will be served. **
Incredible! When government becomes a control freak ordinary people are harmed unnecessarily. A better approach would be to set reasonable standards (in this case built on science) with severe penalties for egregious noncompliance letting industry decide how to best meet the standard.
What are the actual sources of lead poisoning scares? We all remember the Chinese toy scare around Christmas time in recent years. Lead paint, a product with limited used in America, has been a problem in the past. But the number one source of lead poisoning has nothing to do with ink pens, baby food and other products that have been hammered by his stupid regulation:
“Health Officials: ‘Folk’ Medicine Leading Cause of Lead Poisoning in U.S. Children” – FOX
** Worried about her daughters’ lack of appetite, the young Houston mother was merely following her grandmother’s advice when she gave the two girls and a niece a dose of “greta” — a Mexican folk medicine used to treat children’s stomach ailments. *** What Maria, who asked that her last name not be used, did not know then, but now will never forget, is that the bright orange powder is nearly 90 percent lead.
Fortunately, doctors detected the dangerously high levels of the toxic metal in the little girls’ blood during a routine checkup a week later. *** But others are not so lucky. Health departments around the country say traditional medicines used by many immigrants from Latin America, India and other parts of Asia are the second most common source of lead poisoning in the U.S. — surpassed only by lead paint — and may account for tens of thousands of such cases among children each year. **
Incredible…and clear evidence that this regulation is indeed stupid I wonder hpw many others are on the books.