Times Union (Albany, NY) via NewsEdge :

Mar. 22--Cathy Wood has managed to run the Capital Region's largest children's consignment sale for seven years, getting nearly 50,000 products onto to the sales floor to be grabbed up by hundreds of parents at a fraction of the cost they'd pay if the items were new.

But as Wood put together last week's Pass It On Sale in Albany, there was an added challenge -- negotiating the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, a federal law that took effect last month, setting new limits on lead and phthalate levels in children's items.

The law has not only left consignors and thrift store owners puzzled about whether their businesses can meet the law, but it leaves parents wondering whether danger is lurking in every corner of their nursery.

The law sets new standards for children's products manufactured on or after Feb. 10, but it also applies to those who sell items produced before that date. According to the law, resellers aren't required to do costly testing on products for levels of lead and phthalates (a chemical used to soften plastic), but they can face civil and possibly criminal penalties for knowingly selling products that exceed limits.

Already, Goodwill Industries has stopped accepting toys, strollers, car seats, play yards and any children's clothing suspected of having a higher lead content, such as those with rhinestones, says Alfred Vanderbilt, spokesperson for Goodwill Industries New York.

"We're not responsible for testing. That's been made clear in the law, but we are responsible for not selling anything that we know might contain high levels. It's a difficult situation, so we're taking things off the shelves to make sure we're in compliance. The safety of the public absolutely comes first," he says. "The pity of it is that people rely on Goodwill for their children's clothing, especially at a time like this when the economy is so difficult on people, to not be able to go to Goodwill and not be able to get an inexpensive stroller or children's clothing is really disappointing."

The Salvation Army still accepts donations of children's products, says Tim Raines, an eastern territory Salvation Army marketing manager. But thrift store workers carefully look over items for those that might be questionable under the new law, he says.

For her Pass It On Sale, Wood created a new section in the consignors' agreement asking consignors to check product recall lists to make sure their items are not included. That doesn't necessarily mean they've met the new standards, but it's her best effort to meet the requirements.

"(The law is) very confusing. I don't think the people that put it into affect really looked at who it was going to affect, and they made it a law too quickly without looking at the broad issue," Wood says. "Resellers are not the focus, but still, it's a law, and we want to follow it."

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which is charged with carrying out the law, affected products include toys, child care items used to "facilitate sleep or the feeding of children age 3 and younger, or to help such children with sucking or teething" and clothing with some types of rhinestones, metal or vinyl snaps, zippers, closures or appliques.

Lead content in toys became a safety issue after in 2007 millions of mostly China-made toys and children's products were recalled. Although phthalate research is still ongoing, so far it's been found that exposure to phthalates, even in the womb, may lower testosterone levels, later leading to fertility problems in men.

"I don't think that any mother should panic," says Shanna Swan, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology who studies phthalates at University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. "But I think that we can take some precautionary action if we want to probably lower our exposures."

And despite the law aimed at children's products, one way to reduce exposure is to watch what your family eats, Swan says, because research has shown one of the biggest sources of a phthalate known as DEHP is food.

"That's weird, because where is it coming from?" Swan says. "Lots of our food is processed through tubing."

That tubing is made flexible using phthalates, so limiting your intake of processed foods could reduce your exposure.

"Raw foods, simple foods, unprocessed foods will have a lot less of a lot of things," she says. "Don't store food in plastic or microwave in plastic. Some plastics are fine, but it's a precautionary measure that can't hurt."

As far as children's products, high phthalate content can be obvious. Plastics softened with phthalates often have a strong chemical odor, she says. It's actually where that "new car smell" everyone covets comes from.

"I would worry more about the new car smell and what's in the seat covers than the car seat," she says.

Rubber ducks and books meant for the bathtub also tend to be phthalate offenders. Swan says she once compared a book that said it was free of the chemical with one that wasn't labeled that way, and could taste (yes, she chewed on it) and smell the difference.

Resellers have also decided to rely on basic resources to make decisions. At Baby Bear Boutique, a consignment shop in Burnt Hills, owner Cathy Wightman is relying on the same system she always has for deciding which items to accept.

"I do go online, and I do do research. I try to do it daily to see any new recall item, whether it's clothing, toys or furniture," Wightman says. "I'm looking at everything, and anything that I feel that might have lead paint in it or certain dyes in it, I will reject it. If (a crib) comes in and the crib looks really beautiful and there is no recall, but there is some chipping paint, I immediately return it."

Jennifer Gish can be reached at 454-5089 or by e-mail at jgish@timesunion.com. Visit her blog at http://blogs.timesunion.com/parenting.

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