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Below are the results of our survey of small batch children’s product manufacturers and retailers which we conducted this past weekend. 223 business owners participated in the survey, 135 of whom are HTA members. That means that we achieved a 95% confidence rate with a +/- 4.9% confidence interval for the purposes of describing the entire population of 420 businesses who are members of the HTA.

We’re sharing this report with congress and the CPSC in hopes that it will help guide their legislation and rulemaking. One thing this survey makes clear is that there are a lot of very low volume toymakers and children’s products manufacturers in this country who should not be overlooked.

Handmade Toy Alliance CPSIA Survey Results

Note: Revenue data was also collected and shared with congress and the CPSC but was omitted from this public version of the report for privacy reasons.

In short, this survey of business found that 49.8% are internet based retailers and 43.9% are home based manufacturers.   39.0% have been in business for 1-3 years (the CPSIA was signed into law in August 2008).  83.4% employ either the owner or 1-2 employees maximum and 66% of all these business make or sell less than 5000 total units per year.

Expect to see more details as to the potential economic impact for these business in the coming days.  In the meantime, Essco Safety Check did write up an ecomonic impact of the CPSIA, you can see that blog here.

This year’s fair will be held on Saturday, March 20th, 2010. It will be in the auditorium at the South Park Community Center (4851 South Tacoma Way) and will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free.

Bring your children’s toys, family heirlooms, jewelry, dishes, coffee cups, plastic bottles or anything that you would want non-destructively tested for harmful heavy metals.  We utilize laboratory-grade, handheld, X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyzers to detect the presence of a variety of potentially harmful elements such as lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury, chlorine, and other elements.

The fair is a place to learn about protecting your child from toxins in the environment, and to find resources to help you make healthier, greener choices, like safer toys and personal care products, natural yard care, organic foods, cloth diapers, breastfeeding, and babywearing. We will offering free lead testing of toys and other consumer products, but there will be free blood lead testing for children and pregnant or nursing moms. There will be a babywearing fashion show at 11 a.m. and drawings all day for really fantastic door prizes including an organic ERGObaby Carrier, Sleepy Wrap, cloth diapers, Hotsling, BabyLegs, organic cotton baby clothes, and a nursing pillow/cover. Free eco-friendly art supplies for the first 50 kids attending!

For more information visit http://www.essco-safetycheck.com/PR/HealthyKidsGreenParentingFair3-20-10.pdf or contact Chris Matter-Rinehart at 253-798-6492 or cmatter@tpchd.org. See you there!

XRF testing is a non-destructive means to identify potentially harmful elements such as lead and cadmium in virtually anything and being an owner of such a company provides me with the ability to test the items that my family, specifically children, may come in contact with.

Last week we gathered up some items that were given to my nieces by their grandmother and tested them using our equipment. With this knowledge you have the ability to make simple decisions that can mitigate potential harm.

I tested several necklaces; some were brand new when given to my nieces and others were very old, my nieces great grandmothers. Testing results found lead levels over 30 percent in two of the charms on the necklaces; these charms also had antimony at close to 1 percent. I also found cadmium in a plastic beaded necklace over 7000 Parts Per Million (PPM) and lower amounts in other jewelry.

Heavy metals found in these items

Now just because these items had potentially harmful metals in them, doesn’t mean that they are going to harm my nieces. However, those metals are present in those items and the simple act of removing these items from “regular” use mitigates the potential harm. This doesn’t mean to throw these items out; this could create an environmental problem and some of these items are family heirlooms and should be kept and shared, when appropriate. However, if know what is in your environment, you can mitigate potential harm.

So what can you do?

You should be wary of the things you give your children or grand children. Make sure that your children, who are old enough to understand, don’t put these items in their mouth.

In a blog written by CPSC Chairwoman Inez Tenenbaum:

Because of these recent developments, I have a message for parents, grandparents and caregivers: Do not allow young children to be given or to play with cheap metal jewelry, especially when they are unsupervised…

We have proof that lead in children’s jewelry is dangerous and was pervasive in the marketplace. To prevent young children from possibly being exposed to lead, cadmium or any other hazardous heavy metal, take the jewelry away.

Parents should know that swallowing, sucking on or chewing a metal charm or necklace could result in exposure to lead, cadmium or other heavy metals, which are known to be toxic at certain levels of exposure.

If you truly want to know what you may be giving your children or grandchildren, you could have these items tested by XRF analyzers, but there are costs involved to do XRF testing.

Essco Safety Check will be offering FREE XRF testing on Saturday, March 20th, 2010 at South Park Community Center, 4851 South Tacoma Way at the Healthy Kids and Green Parenting Fair

 If you are would like to have any of your “family heirlooms” inspected for lead, cadmium or other heavy metals, please feel free to join us in Tacoma on March 20th.

If you have any questions or comments, please let me know and i will try and answer your questions.

Daiso California LLC and Daiso Seattle LLC have had a total of five recalls for 698 toys and other children’s products since 2008.  These recalls were for lead, phthalates, strangulation and choking hazards.  This is a relatively small number of products recalled compared to the several million recalled by Mattel in 2007, of which Mattel was only fined $2.3 Million.

“This landmark agreement for the injunction sets a precedent for any firm attempting to distribute hazardous products to our nation’s children,” Commission Chairwoman Inez Tenenbaum said.  “We are committed to the safety of children’s products, and we will use the full force of our enforcement powers to prevent the sale of harmful products.”

A senior executive at Daiso said the company accepts the fine and wants to make sure the products it imports are safe.

I would recommend that Daiso utilize X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) Analyzers as part of a reasonable testing/safety program to help determine if their products have harmful regulated metals such as lead or cadmium in their consumer products.   XRF Analyzers can help detect if elements are present of not present, they are non-destructive, accurate and a cost effective solution that can helping save businesses money while providing information that can ultimately lead to compliance with regulations.

You can visit Daiso’s web page about their recalls at www.daisorecall.com

The current administration has challenged businesses across the country to help create new jobs.  Environmental Services & Solutions Corporation (Essco Safety Check), a Redmond, WA based company steps up to the government’s challenge by:

• Proposing the creation of thousands of jobs. 
• Helping to stimulate business; especially small businesses impacted by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA).

The CPSIA (Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act) is a law that regulates the amount of lead and other harmful toxicants in children’s products.  There are approximately 700,000[1] manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and retailers that are impacted by this current legislation; approximately 40%[2]of these businesses have 0-4 employees working for them.

Currently, XRF testing is not a government approved testing method.  Current approved testing methods are destructive in nature; which means the tested product must be destroyed during the testing procedure.  This method of testing is very costly and the test results could take weeks to obtain.  In addition, products can only be tested by a select group of government approved testing laboratories worldwide.

XRF testing equipment is completely portable; it can be easily transported to the testing site.  Testing using XRF is non-destructive, low-cost, fast and an accurate way to determine if elements (including those regulated by the CPSIA) are present or not present in virtually anything.  If XRF technology becomes a government approved screening process, it is estimated that thousands of jobs could be created nationally.  These jobs include certified consumer product inspectors, support staff and office positions.

A direct result of XRF screening is to prevent potentially harmful products from reaching the retailer’s shelves and eventually the homes of consumers. 

By utilizing XRF analyzers to screen consumer products, businesses could save money on government mandated testing expenses and be able to get products to market faster.  For example, traditional testing is destructive in nature, very expensive and time consuming; it costs, on average, $100 per test (each product may need 5 tests) and can take weeks for results.  XRF testing costs on average $2 to $7 per test and usually provides results within 48-hours.

Hypothesis:  If XRF Analyzers and technology are approved for screening heavy metals in children’s products and with a conservative estimate of 5 million products that need to be tested with an average of 5 tests per item, over $3.7[3] billion dollars can be saved.  However, research has suggested that there are literally tens of millions of products that are potentially impacted by the CPSIA regulation and, with that number in mind, there could be savings in the tens of billions of dollars for business all while creating thousands of jobs.

ESSCO-Safety Check proposes that by using XRF technology:
• Thousands of jobs can be created.
• Businesses will be in compliance with CPSIA regulations.
• Mandatory testing expenses are reduced for business.
• Products get to market faster.

It’s a win-win situation for consumers, the environment and business.
www.essco-safetycheck.com

[1] www.naics.com North American Industrial Classification System
[2] www.census.gov  U.S. Census Bureau
[3] http://handmadetoyalliance.blogspot.com/2010/02/allowing-xrf-testing-for-cpsia.html Handmade Toy Alliance Blog – Cross Post from Essco Safety Check

Considering that data that we have collected for over two years assisted with the initial investigation with the AP reporter, I thought I would look further into the data about cadmium and share this information. 

The information is only about consumer products and was collected by using X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyzers to look for a variety of heavy metals by using X-Rays to determine if elements are present or not present in virtually anything.  Over 8000 test results have been compiled.

The data present in this article is looking at a total content for cadmium found at 40 Parts Per Million (PPM) or greater.  In 2008, Washington State passed the Children’s Safety Product Act (CSPA) which regulated lead and cadmium in total content (Lead at 90 PPM and Cadmium at 40 PPM) which are stricter standards than were established by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA).  Considering that total content of cadmium is not part of the federal regulation, and my company is based in Washington State, I have decided to use that number as my standard for this data.

My desire is not to scare anyone with this information; I am just trying to provide some awareness.  Just because we find some harmful metals in everyday items does not mean that they are going to harm you, however, they are present and that means there is a potential for harm.  With knowledge and awareness you can mitigate harm.

XRF analyzers provide awareness, fast, efficiently, accurately, non-destructively and very economically.

During our testing we have found cadmium and lead in a variety of different substrates including; metal jewelry (necklaces, rings, pins and pendants), glass, plastics, ceramics (cups, plates and bowls), cooking equipment, furniture, toys, handbags and even personal care items.

In total we have found 3.64% of all items tested appear to have cadmium.

Age of the item also appears to make some difference.  In items that were brand new, we have found 2.75% of these items to have cadmium, yet used “older” items have approximately 4.88% cadmium.

Children’s products in general have less cadmium than the average with 2.63% found with cadmium.

Of all substrates tested the three with the highest percentages of items found with cadmium are ceramics, metals and glass. 

Ceramics are typical items found in the kitchen environment; coffee cups, plates, dishes, cooking equipment and the like.  Of all ceramics tested we have found cadmium in 12.03% of these items. 

Metal substrates refer mostly to jewelry, but some metals found with cadmium include pots and pans.  Of all metals tested we have found cadmium in 9.09% of these items.  However, two points standout when the data is further evaluated concerning metal.  The levels of cadmium found in these items appear to be much greater than other substrates and when we breakdown the results by age, children’s products appear to have a slightly higher average then overall metals.  I have seen cadmium over 10% in many of these items.

Glass is typically found in two types of products, jewelry (beads) and kitchen items.  Although we find that glass as a substrate appears to have the most overall percentages found with cadmium of any one substrate, these levels appear to be much lower than jewelry.  Overall, with glass substrates tested we have found 30.68% to contain cadmium.

Once again, I just wish to provide awareness, my goal is not to scare you!

Please don’t go run to your kitchen and throw away your dishes and coffee cups.  With ceramics, the most important thing is the condition of the glaze.  If the glaze appears to be in good condition with no cracks, chips, blemishes, than you really shouldn’t worry.

This was just a snap shot of cadmium found in the typical home, with typical consumer products, using XRF analyzers.

If you know what is in your environment, you can mitigate harm.

The CPSIA is a law that regulates the amount of lead and other harmful toxicants in children’s products.  There are approximately 700,000 manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and retailers that are impacted by this law and approximately 40% of these businesses have 0-4 employees working for them.  Current approved testing methods are destructive in nature, very costly and time consuming from only a select group of laboratories worldwide.  XRF is a mobile, non-destructive, low-cost, fast and accurate way to determine if elements (including those regulated by the CPSIA) are present or not present in virtually anything. 

In over two years of business operations I hear the same four scenarios over and over from small business owners who are impacted by the CPSIA.

1. They will try and test using approved testing methods to the best of their ability.  However with the cost of this destructive testing method, they will have to reduce the number of products that they make because they can’t afford to pay for all the required testing.
2. They are going to wing it and get as much information from the manufacture/supplier of the components that they use; they can’t afford to do any testing.
3. They are not going to test at all; too expensive
4. They are going to use XRF as their “reasonable testing” method and use the results to be in compliance and create the GCC (General Certificate of Conformity) regardless of the laws.

How is the CPSIA impacting you and your decisions about the products you manufacture or purchase?

Yellow Bumbo Seats

Our main reason to start our business (Essco Safety Check) in 2007 was to help moms and dads know about the products that they and their children interacted with at home.  Essentially, we wanted to make sure that our children and family members were not exposed to harmful toxicants.  Some things have changed with our business model; expanding to help businesses, industries and government, but our premise is still the same, knowledge and awareness.

At this same time we started Essco Safety Check, my nephew who was not even one years old was found to have small amounts of lead in his blood.  We immediately became detectives and began searching for the source of his blood lead levels.  Having an X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyzer was an extreme advantage, we were able to rapidly narrow down the potential culprits. 

By using the XRF analyzer, my brother was capable of identifying one specific item which his body came in direct contact with.  The likely culprit of my nephew’s blood lead levels was a Bumbo seat (a polyurethane seat a baby can sit in on the floor and wiggle around in but not get out of), specifically a yellow Bumbo seat.  This one item contained approximately 2000 parts per million (PPM) of lead and my nephew would sit in it, in a diaper, and chew on the sides of the seat.

With this knowledge we simply removed the yellow Bumbo seat from his use and a few months later he was retested for lead in his blood and no lead was found.

All of this was occurring at the end of 2007 and at that time there was no legislation about lead in children’s products other than painted surfaces, so the yellow Bumbo seat was legal.  Bumbo seats are not painted; they appear to have an integrated coloring.

By April of 2008, Washington State had passed a new law, the Children’s Safe Products Act (CPSA), which regulated lead and cadmium in total content (this regulation has been preempted by newer federal regulation).  And in August of 2008, then President Bush signed the Children’s Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) in to law which regulated heavy metals in children’s products.  With this new regulation lead is regulated for both total content and soluble content, all other elements within the regulation have a soluble content limit standard (this standard is currently voluntary for most children’s products, the Bumbo seat falls into this category).

In May of 2008 I met with a few U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) personal to go over some test results from new retail product testing, and general consumer product findings from the typical home inspection.  This data included children’s products found with lead and cadmium, including some children’s jewelry items and the yellow Bumbo seat that was my nephews and contained lead.

In July of 2008, there was a national recall issued by the CPSC for one item we informed the CPSC about, it contained high quantities of lead.

I’m going to jump ahead to June of 2009.

I was hired to do an inspection on a house boat in Seattle to specifically look for lead.  This family had a young child who was diagnosed with lead in his blood, not at the action level, but enough to be concerned.  While testing in their home, I was discussing my story of how we got started as a business, my nephew and the yellow Bumbo seat.  The couple said, “We have a yellow Bumbo seat.”  I said, “Then I think we’ve found your culprit for lead in your child.” 

They immediately brought me the yellow Bumbo seat to test; I tested it feeling confident I had solved this case.

Using an XRF analyzer I tested the yellow Bumbo seat.  No lead was found, however cadmium was found present in the yellow Bumbo seat.

I suggested that they remove the yellow Bumbo seat from their child’s use and potentially have their child’s blood tested for cadmium.

I must say that in over two years of testing consumer products, specifically Bumbo’s, I’ve think I have tested every color Bumbo that they make.  I can say, in all my testing, I’ve never seen lead or cadmium in any other color, except yellow!

A few months ago, I began assisting an AP reporter with data for an investigation of cadmium in children’s jewelry, I shared the same with him as I shared with the CPSC the prior year.  During our discussions about children’s products and heavy metals we have found, the yellow Bumbo seat was talked about.  We even tried to purchase new yellow Bumbo seats, but were not able to find any new yellow Bumbo’s in any retail store.  The only place we found yellow Bumbo seats for sale was on Ebay.com and craigslist.com, but those are used items and the CPSC appears to truly be only concerned about regulations for new products.

As a company, we have decided to offer free yellow Bumbo seat screening.  Recently we had a concerned mom stop by our office with her beautiful young child and her yellow Bumbo seat.  We tested her yellow Bumbo with our XRF analyzer and did not find lead, but we found cadmium at approximately 2350 PPM.

Is it a coincidence that when lead became regulated, that cadmium was found in its place?  Cadmium is a very harmful toxicant and a known carcinogen, but it is not regulated in total content like lead. 

I have tested approximately a dozen yellow Bumbo seats since we started our business, I’ve most likely tested hundreds of all Bumbo seat colors.  These tests were done mostly at community events or in people’s homes who have hired us to test the consumer products testing.  In each and every case when testing a yellow Bumbo seat, lead was found, except for the last two I have tested (both mentioned in this article) which were found with cadmium. 

I’m definitely not here to say that all yellow Bumbo seats are made contain lead or cadmium, but everyone that I have tested has been found with one of these harmful elements.  The mom who recently visited me to test her yellow Bumbo was very concerned and wondered why no one has been informed of this? 

I can only speculate about this, I have not spoken to the manufacturing company, but questions can easily be raised.  Did they know about the lead in their products?  Do they know about cadmium in their products currently?  Where are all the new yellow Bumbo seats?  Why can’t I find a new yellow Bumbo seat on the market?

I unfortunately start to think about moral and ethical questions surrounding this entire situation as well.  Who is more important the shareholder or the consumer?  Is it better to pay a fine then change manufacturing procedures?   What are the social and economic impacts of these heavy metals that our children are exposed to?

To my knowledge, no recall was ever issued for this specific item. 

I want to emphasize a few key things.

First, just because a consumer product that your child is exposed contains a heavy metal, does not mean that that heavy metal will harm your child.  But since that harmful element is present it may cause harm. Simple awareness can mitigate this harm.

Second, I honestly do not know if it is just coincidence about the timing of the metals with the yellow Bumbo seat.  Technically, there is nothing illegal about the yellow Bumbo with cadmium.  But once again, it is a harmful element and to mitigate exposure, mitigates harm.

Third, I am honestly just trying to bring some awareness to this situation.  As I have mentioned, I have tested a variety of Bumbo seat colors, in my experience I have never seen lead or cadmium in any color, other than yellow.  All of these tests were tested with XRF analyzers. 

Our company goal is to help people and businesses know what is in their environment.  Hopefully creating jobs and improving lives; reducing business expenses and helping businesses comply with regulation; most importantly, providing knowledge and awareness.

If you have a yellow Bumbo seat and are close enough to visit our office, please contact us at info@essco-safetycheck.com or call us at 425-749-4136 to set up an appointment.  We will be happy to test your yellow Bumbo seat for free.  Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Today, January 29, 2010, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a voluntary recall of children’s metal necklaces.  In corporation with F.A.F. of Greenville, R.I. about 55,000 units were recalled. 

The products recalled are shaped as a frog pendant or metal crown on a metal chain necklace.  The model #’s are 4616-4187 & 4616-4190 with UPC #’s 72783367144 & 72783367147

Children's jewelry recalled

These items were sold exclusively at Wal-Mart retail stores nationwide from November 2009 through January 2010 for approximately $5.

It is recommended that consumer immediately remove these recalled items from children.  Please take all the recalled jewelry to any Wal-Mart retail store for a full refund or a free replacement product.

For those of you who wish to further contact F.A.F or additional information, please call F.A.F Inc at 1-800-949-3311 between 8 am and 4:30 pm ET Monday – Friday or visit www.faf.com

The laboratory performed two types of tests; surface lead content with a wipe lead testing kit and total lead content.   The data from these tests showed high levels of lead, according to the Center for Environmental Health. 

Unfortunately, finding lead and other potentially harmful metals in handbags is something that we have noticed since our company (Essco Safety Check) began providing XRF testing services.  In my experience I have found lead in handbags/purses, wallets, backpacks, beach bags and luggage of all different styles and makes (among many other consumer products). 

There are basically two types of these items; natural material and synthetic or polyvinyl chloride (PVC).  Lead is typically used to make the pigments brighter but it is also an additive to PVC, a stabilizer to prevent hydrochloric acid from forming during the production of PVC.  PVC can be made without lead and other harmful elements, but we do find lead more frequently in the synthetic/PVC materials more than in natural fibers.

It would be wise for women who have young children, a.k.a. woman of “child bearing” age to know what their handbags are made out of.  All too often children will grab a hold of the handbags strap and chew or suck on this part of the handbag.  Children explore in a variety of different ways and specifically with hand-to-mouth contact, we want to make sure what they are putting in their mouths doesn’t contain any harmful toxicants.

According to the laboratory that performed the independent testing, all of the handbags were made in China and in some tested handbags there was 30 to 100 times the total content limit for lead in children’s products.   The Children’s Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) has set total content limits for children’s products at 300 Parts Per Million (PPM) for all products and 90 PPM for painted surfaces.  The results from some of the wipe test kits found lead levels to be more than California permits for a product unless it carries a warning label for cancer and birth defects.

It is important to note that just because a consumer product, such as a handbag, has lead, it does not mean that that consumer product is going to harm anyone.  However, lead is a known toxicant which can cause a variety of different health problems, and if it is present in a consumer product that is used regularly, there is more potential for harm.

Know what is in your environment and mitigate harm.