Massachusetts Personal Injury Library
Thrift stores comply with new lead law
Concentrating 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.
The new standard limits the total lead content in most children’s products to no more than 600 parts per million in any accessible part. Under the new law, retailers can not sell any items unless they are sure of the lead content. Under the new law, the CPSC investigators will inspect retailers for violations– the current penalty is $8,000 per infraction, and that fine will increase to $100,000 in August.
It is difficult for thrift stores to comply with this new law because they don’t deal directly with the manufacturers of these contaminated products. These products are donated by families and the thrift stores have no proof that they meet safety standards. The regulation also applies to items already in stores, and many thrift stores do not have the funds to conduct the tests.
According to the article, Goodwill pulled all children’s merchandise from its nine stores in Massachusetts and Second Time Around, another thrift store, eliminated kids’ clothing from several of its 16 shops. St Vincent de Paul is currently removing children’s clothing with metal zippers, buttons, and painted fabrics from its processing center, which sends out merchandise to its six stores in Massachusetts.
Although the law is necessary and protects families and children, it comes at a time during this economic recession when more and more families are relying on places like thrift stores to help them purchase clothing and toys for their children. According to the National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops, there has been a 35% increase over last year in sales for October and November of 2008. This compares to a drop of 2.8% in sales at retail stores during the same time period, the largest decline since 1992.
The Retailers Association of Massachusetts said retailers are currently trying to figure out what the law means and how to comply with it. Some businesses have decided to clear out all children’s items to comply with the new law: books, cribs, crib mattresses, baby blankets, high chairs, sipper cubs, along with bath and pool toys. Thrift stores are also worried about potential liability and lawsuits from customers if shops sell products with high lead content.
