Isn’t CPSIA needed due to the 2007 recalls for lead paint in toys?
Hearing about recalls on the news certainly is scary. No one wants to find that their child’s favorite toy is making them sick. However, there are many facts about the recalls that didn’t make it onto the news.
First, the recalls were voluntary. That means that as soon as the company found out there was lead in the paint, they recalled the toys. The government did not have to force them to do it, but helped them do the recall by putting out a notice.
Second, the amounts of lead paint in many of the recalls were so tiny that the child would have to actually eat hundreds or thousands of the same toy all at once in order to absorb enough lead. No child could do that! So in many of these recalls, no child was actually in any danger. The recall was done because the paint violated existing pre-CPSIA law.
Third, some people think that if a toy is recalled, it must have harmed someone. This is not true. Most recalls are done before anyone is harmed, and in many cases the recall is done not because of danger, but because of a technical violation of a safety law. More complicated laws increase the chance that somebody will forget a piece of paperwork somewhere or that something will slip through the cracks.
Finally, CPSIA would not have prevented these recalls. CPSIA requires that children’s products be proven lead-free before going to market by testing a sample. These toy companies did test samples and a mistake was made. Laws do not prevent people from making mistakes. The recall system is here to help when mistakes are made, and it worked in 2007.
