Hillary Clinton: Senator Clinton Calls for More Stringent Efforts to Protect Children from Lead Hazards in Consumer Products

Urges Consumer Product Safety Commission to Reconsider Action on Baby Bibs Containing High Levels of Lead

August 16, 2007 -- Washington, DC – In the wake of more recalls of toys containing lead paint, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today called on the Consumer Product Safety Commission to work aggressively to protect children from products still on the market that pose dangers to children. A report by the New York Times revealed that the Consumer Protect Safety Commission declined to recall baby bibs shown by independent laboratory tests to contain high levels of lead.

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“Our children should not be exposed to lead hazards, period,” said Senator Clinton. “We know that lead poisoning is a serious and entirely preventable threat to children’s health. We can’t let the progress we have made in reducing lead hazards in the United States be undone by lax and inadequate oversight and enforcement.”

Following this month’s recall of toys containing lead, Senator Clinton wrote to President Bush urging that he act quickly to nominate a qualified, unbiased commissioner for the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which has been operating for over a year without the leadership of a permanent chairman. Senator Clinton has also worked to enact legislation to protect children from lead hazards. Senator Clinton is the sponsor of the Home Lead Safety Tax Credit Act, which would encourage removal of lead paint in residences by providing home owners and landlords with a 50 percent tax credit for lead abatement costs. She also joined with her colleagues to introduce legislation to remove lead from child care facilities and separate legislation to tighten lead safety standards in children’s toys and electronics and classify certain children's products containing lead as banned hazardous substances. She also joined with colleagues to call on the Senate Appropriations Committee to provide $185 million for the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control at the Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide needed resources for lead-poisoning prevention.

The following is the text of Senator Clinton’s letter to the Consumer Product Safety Commission:

The Honorable Nancy Nord
Acting Chairman
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
4330 East West Highway
Bethesda, Maryland 20814

Dear Acting Chairman Nord:

I am writing to express my concern over a recent article suggesting the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is failing to protect children from all possible lead hazards. While I appreciate the CPSC’s efforts over the past few months to recall toys containing lead paint, there are still multiple products on the market that pose dangers to children. I would urge you to engage in more stringent efforts to protect children’s health and ensure that they are not unnecessarily exposed to any lead paint hazards.

An August 15 article in The New York Times noted that some vinyl bibs sold in the United States have been shown, in independent laboratory tests, to contain high levels of lead. In May 2007, after being alerted to this danger by the New York and Illinois Attorney Generals, the CPSC concluded that the routine mouthing of these products was not dangerous. Rather, the CPSC noted that parents should only be worried if the bibs were somehow damaged to the point where children could swallow pieces of the vinyl, thereby exposing them to high lead levels. I believe that we should not wait until these bibs are worn to the point where they pose a danger before removing them from use, particularly when there are multiple lead-free alternatives available to consumers. I would urge you to reconsider the CPSC’s recall policy, and adopt more stringent policies to protect our children from exposure to lead in consumer products.

In the past thirty years, since lead was removed from house paint, we have made enormous strides in lowering blood lead levels and reducing the lead poisoning rates among American children. We cannot afford to have these gains jeopardized by lax consumer regulation. Recent recalls only serve as evidence of the potential for lead poisoning from toys using lead-based paint, and I believe we must take all necessary measures to ensure that the products we buy for our children are free of lead contamination.

I would ask that you answer the following questions:

1. What steps is the CPSC taking to ensure that products marketed for use by children, such as toys and bibs, are free from any forms of lead?

2. How does the CPSC plan to inform parents of lead exposures and recalls, and help to educate them about the ways to protect their children from lead poisoning?

3. What additional resources does the CPSC need to engage in the testing and monitoring of products marketed for use by children, in order to ensure that none of them contain elevated levels of lead?

Parents depend on CPSC to ensure that the products they purchase for their children are safe and free from hazards like lead. It is imperative that your agency be able to provide unbiased guidance and advice for consumers, and I would ask that you take the steps necessary to strengthen regulation of lead hazards by the CPSC.

Sincerely yours,

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Source: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton