Libraries in danger from Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act

[adelheid_p]

This act, which was passed last August, seeks to protect children from products containing lead and pthalates. Under this act, books are considered products. If this act is enforced for books, then libraries will either have to ban children under 12 from entering or test all books intended for children under 12 for safe levels of lead as of February 10! Everyone who reads knows how important it is to get children into reading early and often. I anticipate that this will have a serious impact on children and schools. An article and more information on this can be found on the ALA website

And for information as to what you can do, there is some in this blog

Comments

[realdaisygamgee.livejournal.com]

There's been a lot of panicking about this on the doll and handcrafter's fora, too, as you can well imagine--but really, there have been exceptions made very recently, and I think the ALA is blowing it all out of proportion. Books generally fall under "items not known to contain lead," and it's on the publisher to make sure of that before the book gets to a library. Older books don't contain lead, unless it's in the ink, and I don't think there's been a lead-based ink for......fuff. Ever?

This is all as I understand it, mind, but I have been following this issue pretty closely.

[simbel-myne.livejournal.com]

thank goodness lead testing is non-invasive. I have a feeling that, at worst, the children's sections will have to be closed for a week or less for a person to test everything and then life will proceed as normal.

(Compared to other library preservation problems like acidity, this is nothing)

[realdaisygamgee.livejournal.com]

(Compared to other library preservation problems like acidity, this is nothing)

Double true.

[adelheid-p.livejournal.com]

Is the testing relatively inexpensive, too? I know that more people are turning to libraries during these times but I don't think that the libraries are getting more funding.

[simbel-myne.livejournal.com]

That I really don't know. My experience was with a home inspector testing paint. So, he got to charge home inspector price$. :P
But the test itself was using a gun that shot light or some sort of radiation through the surface in question and something about the refraction measured the lead levels. I imagine that it's similar for other types of materials.

Buy gun, set preservation librarian and associated library pages (one dime per dozen) to zapping the books.

Relatively low expense.

Mind you, I don't have my ear to the ground on the techniques they'll need to use and I could be completely off base. But this method in the home measures through several centimeters of paint and wood. Books don't have that different of a composition.