Washington state lowers the boom

Washington state Governor Chris Gregoire signed into law a measure that requires that toys sold in Washington state be free of toxins like lead. While doing so, she also opened the door to significant changes to the law before it's implemented in July of 2009.

The measure states that any product made for children that contains more than .009 percent of lead, .004 percent of cadmium and .10 percent of phthalates cannot be made, sold or distributed in Washington state beginning in July 2009.

Ouch.

I've been all for laws the set the current federal standards much lower all along. What I've been afraid of is individual laws for each state that would make it nearly impossible for toy manufacturers to hit a moving target. Washington clearly wasn't going to wait for a new Federal law to stop them from taking matters into their own hands.

I think this could be a crushing blow to little independent toy stores in Washington state, as if independently owned stores weren't already at a severe disadvantage against big box retailers like Walmart and Toys R Us.

Read the story from the Seattle Times here.