Q: Do children’s books contain lead?
A: Very little.
Carolyn being interviewed by KVBC Channel 3 News on the issues surrounding the lead in children's books requirements of the new Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act.
The Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) goes into effect on Tuesday, February 10, 2009. Administered by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, it oversees all products intended for children 12 and younger, including toys, clothing and books.
Brought about by public outcry over the lead-tainted toys and impure baby formula from China, the Act is broad in requirements to protect children. Perhaps overly broad.
The new requirements prohibit more than 600 ppm of lead in children’s products (dropping to 300 ppm in August). Independent third party testing by approved laboratories is required of every product.
Children’s books, which consist of ink on paper or ink on board, typically test out at less than 5 ppm, considerably under the 600/300 ppm threshold. From the publisher’s perspective, books should be exempt. The testing is prohibitively expensive, and for small publishers, financially impossible to implement.
The American Association of Publishers (AAP) and the Small Publishers Association of North America (SPAN) have led the way in providing documentation to the Commission supporting an exemption.
At Stephens Press, we’ve supported these efforts to educate public officials on the justification for the exemption. We’ve acquired component testing (ink, paper, film) from our manufacturers. All components fall into the 2 to 5 ppm range. General Certificate of Compliance documentation has been provided to our distributors and retailers such as Borders and Barnes & Noble.
The Commission has just implemented a one year “exemption of enforcement” of the product testing requirement. Products must still meet the lead requirements, but the testing of products can be delayed. It is our expectation that an exemption will be acquired within the year.
We all know babies and young children chew on everything, and we certainly want and expect toys and children’s products to be safe and lead-free. Fortunately, children’s books are not a risk.
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