Our Federal Government at Work

I often think that businesses protest too much about regulations of the Federal Government that they find to be too fussy.  Often such regulations deal with environmental problems and I want to side with the environment. After all, we don't want workers endangering their health by working in an unsafe environment and we don't want a business to pollute our water or our air.  Usually I do not worry about environmental concerns of the Library since I think all our activities are healthy and we even recycle.  Books are surely the among the safest objects around; and while creating books with ground-wood paper does use up trees, the presence of a library means that fewer books are needed to serve the same population.  So libraries are on balance good for the environment and certainly not harmful.  

So I was surprised to see the following notice in the Mid-Hudson Library Bulletin (here abridged somewhat):

Government says you must close your library to children under 12 or have all your kids' books tested for lead. 
August 2008: Congress passed legislation to decrease levels of lead and phthalates in products intended for children under 12. Not Congressional intent to include books. Law to be enforced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). 
December 2008: Under new interpretation of law, books are subject to same testing standards as children's toys/clothing. Advisory opinion from the CPSC states every book must be tested by one of their certified labs, since legislation is retroactive.
Result: All schools, public libraries, and academic libraries could be required to remove all children's books from their shelves to be tested or prevent children from entering their libraries entirely, beginning February 10, 2009.
January 15, 2009: CPSC released opinion that "if it is an 'ordinary book' - one that is intended for readers of all ages, including children - then it does not require testing [for phthalates], as it is considered reading material and not a toy." [http://www.cpsc.gov/library/foia/advisory/323.pdf] Same opinion states that books intended for children under 12 do not have to be tested for phthalates; but DO need to be tested for lead.
ALA [American Library Association] is considering lawsuit and is working to overturn the ruling. They are asking CPSC for a formal opinion exempting libraries from testing all children's books.
Meanwhile, ALA recommends we take no action but stay alert for decisions from the CPSC. If parents ask about this, here is text you could use to reassure them: "We are monitoring this fluid situation as new rulings are made. Certainly the safety of our children is foremost. Congress never intended ordinary books to be part of this, but books that are intended to be used as toys should be tested. Board books demand a closer look since they are not intended as toys, but are obviously put in the mouth and chewed." 

I did a little research.  Some older books may have been printed with inks that contain lead. Also I read that it would cost $300 to $600 per book to test for lead.  All in all the impossibility of dealing with this as the Consumer Products Safety Commission seems to want to do should be obvious.  

I have written over the years a number of pieces on the hazards of lead in our environment. Never once did I think that the books that printed my warnings about lead might themselves be sources of it.