The Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) was formed in the 1970s and for more than 30 years, it has taken the responsibility of protecting consumers against risks of injuries resulting from the use of consumer products. The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) was signed into the United States law to further strengthen the safety measures required in consumer products.

Most recently, laws have been implemented and aimed to substantially reduce children’s exposure to lead. The resultant destruction that lead poisoning causes includes brain damage, kidney problems and may even be fatal. Towards the end of the 1970s, the problem was so serious, that there were millions of children in the United States with elevated blood lead levels that were seen harmful to their health!

The CPSC noticed the severity of the situation and have concluded that any children’s product that contains more than 600 parts per million (ppm) of lead in any part of the product that is exposed to children would be deemed as hazardous. Which means that any children’s product from toys to baby nursery bedding which contains more than 600ppm would be dangerous for children under the CPSIA.

The CPSC has also defined that any individual younger than or at 12 years of age would be seen as children under the law and all products that were made with the intention of selling mainly to the these group of children will have to comply to it.

This law also applies to all baby nursery bedding, nursery decoration, toys and children’s products that were manufactured before the date of the law that was implemented. Besides the CPSC also requires all goods that were manufactured after 90 days since the creation of the rule to be assessed by an accredited third party. This is to assure that the manufacturers comply to the safety regulations that the Commission has implemented.

In addition, they have shown their dedication in ensuring all children products extremely safe for use by intending to drop the limits to 300ppm in August and further reduce it again in 2011 to a level which is seen justifiable to the availability of technology by then. However, with the rapid advancement of technology, all toys and baby nursery bedding might contain only traces of lead and would be extremely safe for use in the near future.