Working Titlez

The Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act went into effect on August 14, 2009. The CPSIA, which governs all products for ages 12 and under and was spurred by recalls of lead-containing toys, is intended to protect children from harm, particularly from lead and phthalates. It was enacted in August 2008 and its first major provisions went into effect in February 2009.

Problematic for publishers of children’s books was a requirement for component testing of every print run (testing of all of the elements that make up the book — ink, paper, board, glue) which, for a small publisher and short print run, could cost more than then book itself.

Lead levels in children’s books must be 300 parts per million or less, down from the 600 ppm level that went into effect in February. The publishing industry has argued that new books are uniformly far below these limits, (modern children’s book test out at less than 10 ppm) and should not be subject to the law’s testing and certification requirements. “Regular” ink-on-paper or board books printed after 1985 were granted a stay of enforcement. Books that contain special elements like attached toys will still require testing.

While no one wants unsafe books or toys in the hands of tots, the over-reaching requirements of the Act could have put a lot of smaller publishers out of business and greatly reduced an already risk-adverse publishing industry from taking chances with a short run for a promising new author or illustrator. Still problematic are books published before 1985 that sit on library shelves and used bookstores. Those books will likely have to be pulled and pulped.

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.