Yesterday John Stossel’s TV show on “Crony Capitalism” discussed the incredibly stupid Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA)  with CPSC Commissioner Anne Northup.  She explained how every component of chidlren’s toys and clothing must now be tested for lead even though it is not possible for the children to ingest enough lead from any of the components to be harmful.  The big companies like Mattel and Hasbro love the law because they can afford to test everything while small manufacturers cannot  and therefore cannot produce toys or clothing.  The law that causing many companies to go out of business.    Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of used toys and children’s clothing have been destroyed because organizations like Good Will and the Salvation Army cannot afford to test the used toys and clothing given to them.

For a related story, see “Parents warned against use of cheap kids’ jewelry, which illustrates the law of unintended consequences of the CPSIA.  The Associated Press did a study and found that the Chinese are substituting the much more dangerous cadmium in place of lead in children’s jewelry.