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Thrift Stores Protest Ban on Lead Toys

Stores say they can't afford to guarantee the safety of their products

By Truman Lewis
ConsumerAffairs.com

January 8, 2009

• California Warns Retailers On Lead • Mattel Settles Suits Over Dangerous Toys • Target To Pay $600,000 For Violating Lead Paint Ban • Tougher Safety Requirements For Children's Products Now In Effect • Toys 'R' Us Launches Unsafe Baby Products Awareness Program • New Safety Agency Chief Pledges Greater Openness • Obama Names New Consumer Product Safety Chair, Boosts Budget • Toymaker Fined $1.1 Million For Consumer Violations • Maryland Stores Stop Selling Toys With Lead Paint • Toymakers, Craftspeople Up In Arms Over New Safety Law • Thrift Stores Protest Ban on Lead Toys • Target Launches In-Store Recall System • Do's and Don'ts of Holiday Decorating • New Jersey Finds Recalled Toys in Four Stores • Mattel Agrees to Lower Lead Paint Levels in Toys • Consumers Cautioned About Dangerous Toys • Soon-To-Be-Banned Plastic Toys Flooding the Market • Safety Agency Warns of Safety Hazards in Cribs --- • More Consumer Safety News • Recall Notices

With just a month left before new federal regulations on toxic toys take effect, thrift stores are complaining that they don't have the resources to test toys, clothing and other children's items to be sure they're safe.

President Bush signed legislation implementing the new regulations last August, to the applause of consumer and safety advocates who had long pressed for tougher measures to protect children from products containing lead, phthalates and other potentially hazardous materials. The measure becomes effective Feb. 10.

But now, the thrift stores — who did not speak up when the legislation was being considered in Congress — say they may have to stop buying and selling children's products. Most thrift stores sell used clothing, toys and household goods that they either buy from consumers or take in as donations.

There are an estimated 25,000 secondhand stores in the U.S. and, along with informal yard sales and online auctions, they are a major pipeline by which recalled and unsafe products make their way into consumers' homes.

While large retailers are able to track recall announcements and test products for hazardous content, the thrift stores say they don't have the resources to do so, even though the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) maintains a comprehensive online database of recalled products that could be checked by store employees.

The Wall Street Journal said its reporters checked with a number of secondhand shops in the Washington, D.C. area and most were unaware of the new regulations. The executive director of the National Association of Resale & Thrift Shops, meanwhile, claimed her members around the country "are just in an absolute panic."

Realistically, the CPSC does not have the resources to check more than a few thrift shops and intends to concentrate on working with manufacturers, importers and major retailers to ensure that unsafe products are not sold in the first place, a spokesman said.

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