How does this work, from a story about a child who died of lead poisoning, allegedly from a promotional piece of jewelry given away by Reebok?
Since 2003, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced 13 recalls of metal jewelry, involving nearly 162 million pieces, citing the risk of lead poisoning. Three of those recalls, including Reebok’s, were announced yesterday.
More are likely as the agency continues to enforce its voluntary guidelines, issued a year ago, limiting lead in children’s jewelry to no more than 600 parts per million in any component. “This isn’t the last lead jewelry recall you will see,” said CPSC spokeswoman Julie Vallese.
I have no opinion on the guidelines. I haven’t read them, so I couldn’t begin to be insightful. But how does an agency begin to enforce voluntary guidelines? Do this or we’ll be really angry? Don’t do that or we’ll wave our fingers in your general direction? Seriously, I don’t get it. I’m sure it works something like the FCC’s system of fines. Offenders don’t have to pay, but there’s always the chance that the next broadcast license renewal might not go so well. This is effective? There has to be a better way.