Lead in Old Books / Children's Book Ban

[Eldanen]

Daniel Kalder on US measures to ban children's books | Books | guardian.co.uk

Libraries, Booksellers Face Anti-Lead Ban On Older Books for Kids - washingtonpost.com

Thoughts, folks?

My own comment on the above:

See Lassie be printed in lead;
See the CPSIA ban the books;
Now Lassie's dead.

 

[Oberon]

The trick is to make sure your children don't eat the books. I can see why liberals would be concerned.

 

[Reflection]

The trick is to make sure your children don't eat the books. I can see why liberals would be concerned.

I was going to say the same thing. My children won't eat books. And if they do, then they deserve to get lead poisoning.

But seriously, just teach your children not to eat books. How bloody hard can it be?

 

[Eldanen]

I was going to say the same thing. My children won't eat books. And if they do, then they deserve to get lead poisoning.

But seriously, just teach your children not to eat books. How bloody hard can it be?

I don't know. I read a scientific study once that said that paint chip eaters are likely to be book eaters.

 

[Randomnity]

Joking aside, I'm pretty sure they're more worried about the paint (or lead from the paint) rubbing off on fingers that will be placed in mouth either directly or via finger food.

I'm not sure why they've decided that the lead quantities involved are high enough to go crazy with regulations, though. Seems unlikely.

 

[Ivy]

You guys who are joking about kids eating books- have you ever met a toddler? They put stuff in their mouths all the time, including books if they get their hands on them. Some kids with sensory issues mouth things much longer- my son still sometimes puts things in his mouth. He's 5. I don't think he "deserves" to get lead poisoning.

I'm still not sure what I think of this, considering the scope of it- how it will affect libraries, etc.- but the scoffing doesn't really make sense to me.

 

[Randomnity]

^^that, too

 

[Ivy]

Overall I don't think this is good. For one thing, I doubt the dioxin in paper made today is all that healthy either- maybe not on the level of lead but there's a lot more of it in a single book. But it's not because I think it's laughable that a kid might mouth a book, or that I think if they do it's their own fault if they get poisoned, or that I don't think we should protect them if we can. I'm just not sure there's a way to protect kids from lead and dioxin in books without ushering out print media as a whole.

 

[Reflection]

You guys who are joking about kids eating books- have you ever met a toddler? They put stuff in their mouths all the time, including books if they get their hands on them. Some kids with sensory issues mouth things much longer- my son still sometimes puts things in his mouth. He's 5. I don't think he "deserves" to get lead poisoning.

I'm still not sure what I think of this, considering the scope of it- how it will affect libraries, etc.- but the scoffing doesn't really make sense to me.

Joke, Ivy, just joking. Anyway, can't say I've met many kids who eat books - generally, books are uninteresting to them - but then again, I've not had much contact with toddlers apart from my 8 cousins, and they don't represent the average toddler or kid. The best thing to do is keep the books in high places and supervise - if there's indeed any chance of lead poisoning, which I don't think there is.

I find this ridiculous because there are much more important things to worry about with your kids, and not some half-imagined lead threat.

This just in: my teacher friend says there are kids even in first grade of school who seem to be unable to resist putting things in their mouths, but are generally discouraged by books. So it would seem there are kids who would eat books. But, she also says that closer supervision of the books in question would be met with much less opposition (such as keeping the books in closed shelves and employing more librarians in children sections), rather than outright ban them.

 

[Oberon]

You guys who are joking about kids eating books- have you ever met a toddler? They put stuff in their mouths all the time, including books if they get their hands on them. Some kids with sensory issues mouth things much longer- my son still sometimes puts things in his mouth. He's 5. I don't think he "deserves" to get lead poisoning.

I'm still not sure what I think of this, considering the scope of it- how it will affect libraries, etc.- but the scoffing doesn't really make sense to me.

Honestly, Ivy, if you have old books it's not all that difficult to keep them out of a toddler's hands. I think the concern is really rather overblown, and I've got four kids. We have vintage childrens' books in the house, but all four of our children managed to get to kindergarten age without noshing on our Beatrix Potter collection.

 

[Eldanen]

And yet, I wonder what is in the materials that the Chinese now use to print our books. Hmmm. Is anything really all that safe?

The only time I've had anything visibly rub off on my fingers was when I was reading a great deal of cheap mass-printed paperbacks. The ink would get off on my fingers and stay there forever. :/ And mind that these were new paperbacks.

Edit: some more information:

Study Showing No Lead In Books Mostly Done In China - News Story - KIRO Seattle

CBC News - Books - Lead is feared in children's books

But Jay Dempsey, a health communications specialist at the CDC, said lead-based ink in children's books poses little danger.

"If that child were to actually start mouthing the book — as some children put everything in their mouths — that's where the concern would be," Dempsey said. "But on a scale of one to 10, this is like a 0.5 level of concern."

I wonder how readers from the 15th-20th centuries ever survived lol.