CPSIA

Ok gang,
I had originally intended to blog today about my cloth diaper plans, but the past week I can't go anywhere in the cloth diaper arena without running into concerns over the CPSIA legislation. The legislation is due to go into effect on Feb. 10th.
This quote is from Fashion Incubator:

To recap, this law was passed (424 votes to 1) to protect children from unsafe
toys after last year’s widely publicized recalls ... What few consumers realize is this
legislation affects more than toys. What few clothing manufacturers realize is
this also affects them. Of the ones who do know, most of them think it only
applies to children’s clothes. Other than apparel the law includes diapers,
blankets (housewares), books, videos, computer and electronic products,
strollers, cribs, car seats, and anything humans come in contact with in their
environment.

More on the impact to small businesses can be read here, in a petition to congress. But, basically the legislation apparently makes it impossible for Work-at-home-moms who have small businesses sewing and selling children's diapers/bib's/wraps/bags/etc. The legislation makes no difference between toys coming from china with paint and metal in them, and cloth diapers made in the US. These small businesses will have to pay hundreds to thousands of dollars to get their lead free cloth and thread tested and certified lead free. And they have to keep testing, with every new batch of cloth or thread.
The online diaper selling/swapping bulletin board at http://www.diaperswappers.com/ has many sellers of diapers who are reporting their plans to just close shop if the legislation goes into effect.
Now, maybe congress will release clarifications and diapers, wraps, bags and clothing will turn out to be not covered by this legislation... I don't know. It's worrisome though. I don't care if an organic cotton diaper made by a mother of 3 gets tested for lead. I DO care if the plastic toys from China get tested for lead. I hope there's some common sense differentiation that takes place.