PW and the CPSIA

There is an article in Publisher's Weekly today about the CPSIA as the 1-year stay is upon us and the CPSC hasn't reached a definite conclusion about third party testing on children's products, especially the book industry. When the CPSIA first came out, there were a lot of folks upset and then it was proven over and over many times that the lead content, if there was even any, in books was way below the amount that the CPSIA stated was an acceptable level. The ppm amount was lowered from what it originally had been to 600 ppm by August 2010 and then was supposed to go down a second time to no more than 300 ppm. I don't remember the exact timeframe the amount was to drop in, nonetheless, the testing for books is harmful to the books and there is no standard for testing - the components of the whole, the whole unit, et cetera. It's a big mess. Book testing can be costly and if you are caught not testing the books as they are printed, you could be fined up to a large amount of money (I'm thinking the CPSIA states $10,000 per offence) and possibly even some jail time. I also know that from previous mentions of the testing that it can run into the thousands of dollars and I definitely don't have thousands of dollars to prove my books are lead-free. So for now, I will continue publishing the books in the series but if it comes down being required to test at an ungodly amount, you may see the books listed as for a 12 and up age group. Don't fret if you are a true follower of my series; if this is the case in order for me to keep on publishing the series, the books will remain the same and for the same age group as they already are - the 9 to 12 group.

For the article and a timeline from PW, check out my other blog and make a statement. There are plenty of places to make your voices heard. Don't let the CPSIA ruin the children's industry any more. Mrs. E :)