House Passes Product Safety Bill

Alarmed by a year of recalls targeting millions of tainted toys, the House voted overwhelmingly yesterday to ban lead and phthalates -- some permanently and some pending further study -- from items such as jewelry and rubber ducks that could end up in kids' mouths.

Phthalates are chemicals used to make toys such as rubber ducks and bath books soft and flexible. They are suspected of posing health risks to children.

The legislation also would toughen rules for testing children's products and take steps to give more muscle to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which was criticized last year for its handling of a flood of goods from China deemed hazardous to children.

"It should be a given that toys are not dangerous," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in welcoming legislation that was lauded by lawmakers and consumer groups as one of the most far-reaching product safety bills in decades.

The bill, a result of House-Senate negotiations, would impose the toughest lead standards in the world, banning lead beyond minute levels in products for children 12 or younger.

The 424 to 1 vote sends the measure to the Senate, which could approve it before Congress leaves for its August recess at the end of this week. The White House has voiced opposition to parts of the legislation but has not threatened a veto.

The bill would require third-party testing for many children's products before they are marketed, a key change in monitoring practices following a year in which 45 million toys and children's products -- 30 million from China -- were recalled.

It would double the CPSC's budget, to $136 million by 2014, and allow it to monitor testing procedures and impose civil penalties on violators. The CPSC was founded in 1973 with a staff of about 800. It now employs about half that number, while imports have vastly increased.