|
|
|
Now it’s books.
A tempest has erupted in an unlikely arena over the enactment of a new law intended to protect children from dangerous exposure to lead.
But public libraries across the nation are off the hook — for now at least.
Just days before new regulations were supposed to go into effect that would have possibly required individual libraries to spend thousands of dollars to conduct lead tests on all children’s books — or simply throw them away — the commission in charge of overseeing the law’s implementation granted a one-year hiatus on all testing.
Robert Doyle, executive director of Illinois Library Association, said the one-year stay was likely the result of public outcry.
“My guess would be that there was enough public reaction to what they had proposed (saying) that what they proposed was overly broad,” Doyle said. “What we’ve got going on now is a wait and see.”
Christopher Bowen, Downers Grove Public Library director, said he was attending a meeting of the Midwestern American Library Association when he learned of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008.
However, Bowen said it was recently announced that before libraries need to take any action on testing their children’s book collections, a check into whether libraries need to comply with the law will get underway.
“(The Consumer Product Safety Commission) will be taking no action on books for a year to investigate the situation. They know there is some lead content in paint,” Bowen said. “But in practical experience in libraries, we circulate a lot of children’s books. Some get lost, torn ... but we don’t have a lot of experience of children actually eating our books.”
Bowen said the lead in books is in found in the ink.
Prior to the law, Bowen said the library has already taken steps to eliminate the possibility of lead products getting through the door.
“On our own two years ago, we have made some serious changes. We have a number of toys in our collection, and we tested everything and removed those that tested positive for lead paint,” he said.
The library also made changes to the kind of prizes awarded to participants in the summer reading club program.
“We typically have lots of little prizes, and we took a hard look at that. In fact, we moved away from the inexpensive toys, many of them which are imported from China and are hard to verify if they had any lead paint in them.”
Now it’s books.
A tempest has erupted in an unlikely arena over the enactment of a new law intended to protect children from dangerous exposure to lead.
But public libraries across the nation are off the hook — for now at least.
Just days before new regulations were supposed to go into effect that would have possibly required individual libraries to spend thousands of dollars to conduct lead tests on all children’s books — or simply throw them away — the commission in charge of overseeing the law’s implementation granted a one-year hiatus on all testing.
Robert Doyle, executive director of Illinois Library Association, said the one-year stay was likely the result of public outcry.
“My guess would be that there was enough public reaction to what they had proposed (saying) that what they proposed was overly broad,” Doyle said. “What we’ve got going on now is a wait and see.”
Christopher Bowen, Downers Grove Public Library director, said he was attending a meeting of the Midwestern American Library Association when he learned of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008.
However, Bowen said it was recently announced that before libraries need to take any action on testing their children’s book collections, a check into whether libraries need to comply with the law will get underway.
“(The Consumer Product Safety Commission) will be taking no action on books for a year to investigate the situation. They know there is some lead content in paint,” Bowen said. “But in practical experience in libraries, we circulate a lot of children’s books. Some get lost, torn ... but we don’t have a lot of experience of children actually eating our books.”
Bowen said the lead in books is in found in the ink.
Prior to the law, Bowen said the library has already taken steps to eliminate the possibility of lead products getting through the door.
“On our own two years ago, we have made some serious changes. We have a number of toys in our collection, and we tested everything and removed those that tested positive for lead paint,” he said.
The library also made changes to the kind of prizes awarded to participants in the summer reading club program.
“We typically have lots of little prizes, and we took a hard look at that. In fact, we moved away from the inexpensive toys, many of them which are imported from China and are hard to verify if they had any lead paint in them.”
Bowen said prizes now include soft-cover books.
Zachary Cikanek, press secretary for U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert, R-13th District, of Hinsdale, said the office was not aware of the law’s impact on library items. He indicated that much of the testing would be done in the manufacturing process of toys, and was not sure how much testing would be required for existing library materials.
Alice Calabrese, executive director of Metropolitan Library System, said the law’s testing requirement would have had a dramatic impact on libraries.
“In terms of older books, it would be almost impossible to test what’s on the shelves,” Calabrese said. “It would be cost prohibitive.”
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 became law Aug. 14 with the signature of President Bush. It required that all children’s products be tested for lead. Sounds simple. The bill easily passed the U.S. Senate, 79-13, and the U.S. House, 407-0, on the heels of recalls of Chinese toys sold in the United States that contained high levels of lead.
Only this month, with the law becoming active Feb. 10, has the scope of its reach raised concerns among certain special interest groups. Earlier this month, owners of second-hand clothing stores were relieved by a CPSC “clarification” that dropped the requirement to test used children’s clothes for lead (though store owners remain liable for selling clothes with illegally high levels of lead).
Now the American Library Association is awaiting a similar clarification from the CPSC exempting children’s books — new, used and those available in school and public libraries — from the lead testing requirement. So far, with the enactment date two weeks away, library officials have heard nothing.
“It is apparent that the CPSC does not fully understand the ramifications this law will have for libraries — and for children — if libraries are not granted an exemption,” said Jim Rettig, the president of the library association, in a prepared statement. “At this point, we are advising libraries not to take drastic action, such as removing or destroying books, as we continue to hope this matter will be rectified and that the attention will be paid to the products that pose a true threat to children.”
Dr. Angela Byrd, a general pediatric hospitalist at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, said children would have to ingest the pages of books to be exposed to the lead, which gets absorbed through the stomach.
“I think any measure that will remove a potential source for lead is a good one to decrease exposure. I do agree with maybe testing dust particles from the books. If it’s not a significant source, I don’t agree with removing tons of books,” Byrd said.
Byrd said the most common source of lead poisoning comes from children who eat lead-based paint chips.
CPSC officials could not be reached, but the agency Web site’s Frequently Asked Questions section asks the question, “Does the new requirement for total lead on children’s products apply to children’s books?”
And then answers it:
“In general, yes. (The law) defines children’s products as those products intended primarily for use by children 12 and under. Accordingly, these products would be subject to the lead limit.”
Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the American Library Association’s Washington, D.C., office, said the law should focus on toys, not books.
“The CPSC should focus on toys and let libraries get on with the important work of teaching children to love reading,” she said.
Reporters Danya Hooker, Janice Hoppe and Catherine Leyden contributed to this report.
