Even Children’s Wall Decor Not Safe from CPSIA
[This is another in a series of posts by Susan Maphis covering the impact of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). For more information about the CPSIA, read Susan's previous article: The End Of Handmade and sign up for her CPSIA Alerts Mailing List ]
Jamie’s Painting and Design is a small company that creates personalized ceramic keepsakes for children. The designs of artist/owner/founder Jamie R. Lentzer have been feautured on television’s Ellen and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Lentzer’s livelihood is now being threatened, however, by the CPSIA.
“I am very concerned about the law as it affects my company directly,” Lentzer says. “I make personalized ceramic keepsakes, wall art, plates and ornaments for children. They are not directly intended to be played with - however they do hang in a child’s or infant’s room.”
“The added testing to each batch of products is huge for my small company,” she continues. “I work with large and small retailers around the country and this, added to the dismal economic climate - it is disastrous. We cannot afford to test all 300 sku’s we have.”
What’s ironic is that, even though Lentzer’s products are marketed as children’s personalized creations, usually a child will never even touch the keepsake. “One problem I have with the law is that they are assuming the children are even coming in contact with these items, or that after I purchase the parts (that have no lead in them) and I assemble them to create my product - they are assuming I would put lead in them,” she says. “As a maker of basically a keepsake, or art, we have been recommended to to put a sticker on the back of every item we sell stating that it is not a toy and not to be handled or played with by children and it is to be hung on the wall by an adult.”
Personalized name plaques, such as the beautiful ballerina plaque above, sell for $35. If you’d like to view more of Lentzer’s products, visit JamiesPND.com.
[ For more information about the CPSIA, read Susan's previous article: The End Of Handmade]
Actually, new rulings may be ok for wall decor, but open to interpretation, like everything else in this crazy new law…
http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/faq/101faq.html
“What furniture articles are exempt under CPSC regulations? Do the lead paint limits apply to furniture whether or not the furniture is intended for children?
16 C.F.R. § 1303.1 provides that the lead paint limits apply to toys and other articles intended for use by children, as well as furniture articles for consumer use that bear lead-containing paint. Furniture articles include, but are not limited to beds, bookcases, chairs, chests, tables, dressers, desks, pianos, console televisions, and sofas. However, they do not include appliances such as ranges, refrigerators, dishwashers, clothes washers and dryers, air conditioners, humidifiers and dehumidifiers; fixtures such as bathroom fixtures, built-in cabinets, chandeliers, windows, and doors; or household items such as window shades, venetian blinds, or wall hangings and draperies.”
What is YOUR interpretation? Just curious…
February 28th, 2009 at 8:48 pmIf I were a manufacturer of children’s wall decor, I’d be afraid not to have it tested - what happens if you sell it to someone and they have it tested and it does contain lead or something else? It just makes it so difficult for those who produce these handmade items to make a living selling anything targeted to children in any way.
March 1st, 2009 at 10:58 pmI agree. We are looking into testing, but we can’t afford the accredited labs. We are looking at testing via XRF so at least WE know, and will probably change our target audience from children’s decor to wedding decor… sigh!
The sad thing is, even my 10 year old sees the stupidity in the way this well intentioned law was written.
I’m also a teacher… I wonder if I’ll eventually have to stop requiring ball point pens in the classroom! lol
March 2nd, 2009 at 12:32 amGood point! When they started talking about books possibly being “dangerous” to children, I thought it couldn’t get much worse…
March 2nd, 2009 at 12:59 am