The US House has overwhelmingly voted to ban ead and some dangerous chemicals from toys and other items children may play with. The vote, 424-1 (who would vote against this) comes after nearly a year of recalls of toys mostly made in China, which possess alarming levels of lead and other dangerous chemicals in them and also represent the strictest ban of lead levels in the world.
Further details of the new bill, which is part of a Senate conference bill of a similar nature, would require testing of toys from a neutral third party and would also revise and strengthen the testing criteria for children’s products. More oversight authority would also be granted under the new legislation to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, who’s budget would also be doubled as a result.
In addition to greatly reducing lead content in toys to mere trace levels, the new legislation also attempt to regulate levels of PVC plastic chemicals including six types of phthalates, which are commonly used in plastic toys and have the potential of posing significant health risks upon prolonged exposure. But that part of the measure also states the option of a permanent ban of the phthalates or until further study can confirm or deny the health risk.
The Bill now moves it’s way back to the Senate before on to the White House, where the President has voiced some objections to certain provisions, but hasn’t vowed to veto it. So signature into law should be a done deal.
Hat Tip – The Gray Old Lady