New health and safety lunacy: banning books
It seems that in the USA they are planning to ban children’s books published before 1985, on the ground they they might, just possibly, contain too much lead.
New federal law bans children’s books printed before 1985 – National Civil Liberties | Examiner.com:
Until 1985, it was legal for trace amounts of lead to be used in the inks and paints used in children’s books. But the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (PDF), which went into effect February 10, bans the sale of any children’s products containing more than 600 parts per million (ppm) total lead, no matter how unlikely it is that the items will feature at a toddler buffet. The Consumer Products Safety Commission has ‘clarified’ the issue with contradictory guidance that has thrift stores and even libraries disposing of mountains of books published before the magic date — and hoping that a stray copy of The Wind in the Willows doesn’t bring down the wrath of the regulators.
Is this the law of unintended consequences, or health and safety concerns gone mad? Ot is it censorship “for your own good”?
Notes from underground 