Overreaction on Child Safety

Overreaction on Child Safety

The Washington State “toxic toys” bill that is being put into effect implies that the toys your children are playing with are dangerous to their health and should be illegal to sell. This is a statement that is meant to scare parents and citizens of Washington without properly educating them about what toys are and aren’t safe for their children. The “toxic toys” bill creates higher standards for lead and phthalate content in children’s toys and products. This new bill creates problems for manufacturers, small business owners, consumers, and outlaws toys that have

been already safe for children for years.

For years, most toy manufacturers have been producing toys with low lead and phthalate content. Lead is a heavy metal that can usually be found in the paints on toys and are harmful to the body because the body cannot dispose of the lead. Exposure to lead in the body has been known to cause developmental problems as well as damage muscles and the bloodstream. Phthalates are chemicals used to soften plastic to make toys flexible. Studies have shown that phthalates can affect a child’s reproductive system when they are exposed to the chemical. Most toys are already held to the European Standards and have the CE label on their product which indicates that the product has no phthalates or lead in it. The lead content of the United States is 600 parts per million where as the European Standards are gradually less, only having 90 parts per million lead content. The European Standards are the highest to abide by, even higher than that of the United States.

The new “toxic toys” bill expects toy manufacturers to spend even more money to test their products by each toy for lead and phthalate content that meets the new standards but will then cost more than what the toy is actually worth. Each shipment of toys sent out from the producers will have to have a certificate that verifies the safety for children. If it does not have a certificate the product is deemed illegal to sell.

As of August 2009, the toys that do not comply with the new bill will be illegal to sell. Small business owners will lose half or most of their inventory without a refund from producers. This situation could send a lot of small toy store owners out of business especially with the economy in the way it is in recent times. Large businesses are not as affected because they have the ability to buy in bulk at a cheaper price, which in the end they can afford to lose half of their stock and still remain in business. Some manufacturers outside of the U.S. especially in Europe that supply many products of excellent quality will not be able to afford the cost of extra testing and will stop selling to the U.S. This leaves poor quality toys made from China and the U.S. for the consumer to buy, which have had a history of making poor quality toys as well as chemical scares. For example, China has had many toys recalled for lead content including “Thomas the Tank Engine” toys which have been recalled numerous times for lead in the paint as well as many “Fisher Price” toys. This bill is taking away the consumers ability to buy good quality toys with standards that were already safe for their children.

It is understandable that the reason for this bill is to tighten child safety laws and try to eliminate dangerous products that can be harmful to children. This new bill is a step in the right direction but honestly has not been thought through properly in the aspect of the consequences it will cause as well as it being somewhat illogical. For example, new products have to comply with the bill, but old toys that are sold in a second hand store that could actually be dangerous and contain lead and phthalates do not have to comply with the bill. This bill clearly has standards that are very difficult to comply with and is affecting manufacturers and businesses everywhere with negative consequences and needs desperate revision.

The Washington State has put into effect and new “toxic toys” bill that is affecting manufacturers, businesses, and consumers rights to buying good quality toys. For years toy producers have been following high safety standards and this bill seems to be going overboard with child safety. It is expensive for producers to increase testing and is persuading producers from out of the country to not sell to the U.S. Small businesses are suffering from complying with this bill and some are being forced out of business. It is also interesting that new toys have to comply with the bill but old toys in second hand stores are fine to sell even if they do contain the dangerous elements that this bill is trying to prevent. Child safety is very important and it is a wonderful thing that the government is trying to do something to strengthen these laws. However this law in particular is an overreaction on child safety and needs desperate revision in the sense that it should be logical and does not affect businesses, in addition to keeping our children safe.

Works Cited:
http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/250-lead-free-toys-501101
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6927156.stm
http://www.ape2zebra.ca/lead-free-toys-safety-tips.asp
http://www.leo.com.hk/pdf/heavymetalsbooklet1.pdf
http://humupd.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/7/3/231
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/government/story/302701.html
http://www.myballard.com/2008/04/01/gregoire-to-act-on-toxic-toys-bill-today/