Comments on: CPSIA chronicles, June 18

By: CPSIA – Walter Olson’s Update :

CPSIA – Walter Olson’s Update : — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:21:26 +0000

[…] a lot in the process. [Full disclosure, Walter reads my blog, too, and links to it.] He just posted an update that was laden with great links and lots of useful information. I found the topics enraging all […]

By: CPSIA’s tracking-labels fiasco: T minus six weeks

CPSIA’s tracking-labels fiasco: T minus six weeks — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:04:53 +0000

[…] a burden that is perhaps bearable for many producers who operate on a large industrial scale; as noted in some detail two weeks ago, however, they are causing much hair-pulling — if not thoughts of retirement or bankruptcy […]

By: GregS

GregS — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 21:49:27 +0000

Charles: In a slightly saner world, I’d say you wouldn’t have anything to worry about because the First Amendment would protect you. But these days, there seems to be no limit to what government tries to get away with. Maybe you can shift the emphasis of your planned book a bit to aim it at children 12 years old and older. The CPSIA doesn’t apply to products aimed at them.

By: William Nuesslein

William Nuesslein — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:53:15 +0000

I had the heart ache of listening to the Inez Tenenbaum hearing on the radio this morning. It is clear that Ms. Tenebaum has no idea what the problem is with CPSIA, namely the idiotic statutory declaration that incidental exposure to lead or phthalates is a hazard to children.

The Chinese Drywall issue came up. If you suggest that Chinese Drywall canl cause breathing problems, then you will get lots of claims that Chinese Drywall caused breathing problems, just as what happened with the World Trade Center claims, Gulf War Syndrome, and Agent Orange. The Senators at the hearing were perplexed when no agent could be found to explain the results. What a bunch, both sides of the aisle, of morons. Complete and absolute morons!

By: Charles Platt

Charles Platt — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 03:28:57 +0000

I have been writing an introductory book on electronics, tailored for young readers. I was thinking of packaging and selling a complete kit of components for all the experiments in the book, when the horror-acronym “CPSIA!” flashed into my consciousness and I realized that such an idea is utterly out of the question, since components often contain not just one but several ingredients that are outlawed by the act.

How about if I sell the components to anyone who submits a signed statement that he is over 18? I’m not so sure about that. The book clearly is for young people, so anything I do of this sort could be viewed as an attempt to circumvent the law fraudulently. I can hear the prosecutor’s words now: “Mr. Platt, do you really expect the court to believe that when you sold components for projects in a book clearly intended for young people, you had no idea that young people would be using the components?”

In fact I am now wondering if I am running afoul of CPSIA merely by _writing_ something which encourages young people to buy stuff that is chock full o’ lead. Am I engaged in a conspiracy? Is this all too theoretical and paranoid? Until we start accumulating test cases, who the hell knows? And personally I do not wish to be a test case. I just wish to write a book to encourage young people to get hooked on electronics, so that we will have more electronic engineers in the future, maybe improving the world for future generations. But since toxic chemicals will always be involved in electronics, maybe the future generations are out of luck.