Consumer Product Safety Commission: children's books printed before 1986 may contain lead

[The Straight Story]

Could a vintage, dog-eared copy of "The Cat in the Hat" or "Where the Wild Things Are" be hazardous to your children?

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has raised that possibility in urging the nation's libraries to take children's books printed before 1986 off their shelves while the federal agency investigates whether the ink contains unsafe levels of lead.

Few, if any, libraries are complying, and many librarians are ridiculing the recommendation as alarmist. Even the nation's premier medical sleuths, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, say any danger from lead in children's books is slight.

"We're talking about tens of millions of copies of children's books that are perfectly safe. I wish a reasonable, rational person would just say, `This is stupid. What are we doing?'" said Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the American Library Association's Washington office.

Lead poisoning has been linked to irreversible learning disabilities and behavioral problems.

http://www.southernledger.com/ap/245823/Lead_is_feared_in_childrens_books

[Hannah Bell]

1. no. someone wants to force everyone to buy new. who's pushing this?

first thrift stores get their business taken away, now libraries.

[hedgehog]

2. What children's library has any books left that were printed

before 1986? Most books get pretty heavy use.

[pleah]

3. What a crock!

"We're talking about tens of millions of copies of children's books that are perfectly safe. I wish a reasonable, rational person would just say, `This is stupid. What are we doing?'" said Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the American Library Association's Washington office.

The new age of book burning?