Posted by Jill Gaynor  on  06/21/2010  at  11:48 AM

It is true that bamboo does not contain any lead, however, our bamboo sticks must go through testing to check for sharp edges, etc. This is a basic testing requirement for toys (ASTM 971).

Just to clarify…. Beyond Learning products, including the bamboo sticks, are printed with vegetable based ink, not paint.

Posted by Concerned Manufacturer  on  06/18/2010  at  05:57 PM

Thank you Jill for responding to my post.

It’s always good to hear how other manufacturers are dealing with the CPSIA.  Being in the apparel market we face different issues then a toy manufacturer but are still feeling the blunt of the law due to our made to order clothing.  So despite testing that shows all of our components comply,  the batch testing is going to kill us.  My feeling is that money should be focused on testing components that have a known history of lead contamination.

For example, any paint used on a children’s product should be tested since paint has been known to contain lead.  But your bamboo sticks shouldn’t need to be tested for lead because last I checked, bamboo trees don’t contain lead.  Paying for testing in that case is a waste of resources IMHO.

This is the balance Congress and the CPSC need to strike so they don’t destroy the small businesses that make these great products.

Posted by Jill Gaynor  on  06/14/2010  at  05:04 PM

Dear Concerned Manufacturer:

Thank you for your email. Like you, we feel the cost of testing is especially hard on small businesses that don’t have the same reach as larger manufacturers. Beyond Learning games have always been tested by third party laboratories, and with the new CPSIA law, our testing costs will increase by 20%. We’re planning ahead for those costs, as well as continuing to work with printers and suppliers that comply with the strictest safety regulations. Although it is costly, testing is important and we strongly believe that consumers have a right to know that the products they are buying are certified safe and toxic free. 

We can only hope that the CPSIA law will be amended soon, so that consumers feel protected and small companies will be able to stay in business creating imaginative, fun and safe toys for children and their families.

In order to keep up to date on the issues surrounding the law, we frequently read a blog by Rick Woldenberg, Chairman of Learning Resources. http://www.learningresourcesinc.blogspot.com/

Best regards,
Jill Gaynor & Gina Manola
Managing Partners, Beyond Learning

Posted by Concerned Manufacturer  on  06/07/2010  at  07:42 PM

I appreciate the fact that you are advocating safer toys for our children.  But don’t you realize the irony that laws you have advocated for, like the CPSIA, are putting mom and pop manufacturers of hand made natural toys and other children’s products out of business?  The testing costs required by the law are unaffordable for small businesses and all you are going to do is leave the market to the big companies like Mattel and Fisher Price who can afford to test their products.

Have the companies who manufacture the prizes you are giving away sent their products to a 3rd party lab for testing?  This would be for each separate component in the product and a new test is required for every separate batch.  So the pickup words game by Beyond Learning would require each of the following to be tested at about $500 a pop.  The bamboo sticks, the soy paint, the glue, the plastic plug, the instruction sheet, and the paper packaging.  So you are talking a $3000 test for every batch they manufacture for a product that costs $13.95.

I don’t see how they can continue to sell this product after the testing stay expires in February of 2011 and this is the same dilemma many small manufacturers of childrens products now face.

I’m very concerned that there is not going to be a market for these natural products when we are all driven out of business.

Posted by LissaL  on  06/07/2010  at  04:44 PM

I will be there either @LissaL or @leapnlissa