Massachusetts Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Thrift stores comply with new lead law

Massachusetts attorney Thomas M. Kiley, concentrates on legal issues regarding defective products.  In recent years, many products being produced overseas without safety standards overseen by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, have been found to be contaminated by lead and are unsafe.  This had led to many recalls and also a new law enacted by Congress to deal with this problem.  A recent article in the Boston Globe indicates that this new law is causing compliance problems for thrift stores and second-hand stores,

According to the article, stores such as Goodwill have had to stop selling children's clothing, which is cutting off an important source of cheap clothing for families struggling with the recession.   The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which took effect Feb. 10, prohibits all shops from selling children's products that contain too much lead or potentially harmful chemicals.  Congress passed the law in response to a series of recalls of toys and jewelry that had high lead content and were linked to several child deaths and illnesses. The Consumer Product Safety Commission said the law was implemented because of concern about lead contamination in metal zippers and snaps, screen printing, rhinestones, and other embellishments on clothing, as well as in children's toys and jewelry and furniture.