Makers of Small Toys - Arts and Crafts

I was just reading about these recent laws that are forcing companies to have their toys tested for lead. Don't know if this is really necessary and I think that this lead problem might have been blown out of proportion. I agree that children should be protected from lead, but there might be groups or individuals out there who stand to make some big bucks because of this. I am always skeptical about some of these new laws where you have to do this, buy that, wear this, don't wear that, etc. because I think that the producers/manufacturers of these items, etc., are the ones initiating the bills that create these new laws.

Anyhow, went off track here. There are quite a few people in the Arts and Crafts world out there who are making their toys OR are importing them from China, etc. Here is a link to an article about having to get your toys inspected for lead. Life is tough out there for the vendors and arts and crafts people and things might get tougher.

Toy makers may win lead-testing exemption
Rules on lead threatened to hurt those who create handcrafted items

Dec. 24, 2008, 8:14PM SAN FRANCISCO — The makers of handcrafted toys received some holiday hope Wednesday with support from a federal agency for proposed exemptions from strict lead-testing regulations they feared could put them out of business.

Last year's discovery of lead paint in mass-market toys prompted the government to pass new safety rules requiring testing and labeling that mom-and-pop workshops and retailers said they could not afford.

As a February deadline for complying with the law loomed, toy makers who use materials such as unfinished wood, organic cotton and beeswax sought exemptions from the rules.
In a memo released Wednesday, Consumer Product Safety Commission staffers recommended that the agency exempt some natural materials from the lead testing requirements

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