Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

New federal regulations that take effect Tuesday will require retailers to pull toys, clothing and other children's products from their shelves if the items don't meet new, stricter limits for lead and chemical content.

"Tomorrow is our Apocalypse Now date," said Rebecca Mond, government relations representative for the American Apparel & Footwear Association, a trade group in Alexandria, Va. "We're still hoping there's some time that people can untangle this mess."

The new rules apply to for-profit companies and nonprofit agencies, which are worried about being fined or sued for violating the law and about how the changes will affect their operations.

The Salvation Army says it will cost millions of dollars to check all the donated goods that it resells and to discard items that fail to meet the new standards.

"We recognize this is well-intentioned legislation," Melissa Temme, the organization's national spokeswoman, said. "The ripple effect is perhaps a little bit more than legislators expected."

Passed by Congress last August, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act requires testing by independent laboratories of products for children age 12 or younger. The law was passed in response to last year's massive recalls of toys containing lead and other dangerous substances.

 Tags  CPSC environment lead

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