Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act

Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act

Describe the significance of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) and what it did for
the public as a whole.

Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act
Consumer Product, Safety Improvement Act, is a United States law that monitors
imported and domestically manufactured products. The Consumer Product Safety Commission
enacted the Act through issuing of conformity certificate to producers of consumer goods. This
discussion provides the significance of CPSIA and as well the overall benefit to the public in the
United States.

This law ensures the safety of products especially those used by children. It
ensures children’s products and durable products testing before being released to the market for
consumption. Therefore, the act provides grounds for the consumer safety commission to
adequately secure consumers from unsafe products. It as well ensures monitoring of ports to
prevent entry of unsafe products into the country. After the implementation of the CPSIA, the
agency has now the mandate to ban products that do not attain the standards required of
consumer products (Lioy, Hauser, Gennings, Koch, Mirkes, Schwetz & Kortenkamp, 2015).

CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY IMPROVEMENT ACT 2
Before the CPSIA law was signed in, hazardous products were evidently in the
market. Children’s products such as toys contained excessive lead that caused infant deaths.
Since the new era, the agency has helped curb many infant deaths as well as injuries from unsafe
cribs used by children to play. These products are now tested hence consumers have access to
safety information. The law has led to the banning of chemicals used to soften plastics linked to
breast cancer, obesity, and infertility problems.

Therefore consumer safety has been assured since the introduction of the CPSIA
as the agency has the authority to deal with producers that do not comply with set standards. The
safety commission can now levy fines to producers who violate the safety regulations. Also,
product safety has been addressed at the US ports. This means that consumer safety and quality
product is enhanced in the market. Consumers can use goods with no fear of harm.

CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY IMPROVEMENT ACT 3

References

Lioy, P. J., Hauser, R., Gennings, C., Koch, H. M., Mirkes, P. E., Schwetz, B. A., &
Kortenkamp, A. (2015). Assessment of phthalates/phthalate alternatives in children’s toys
and childcare articles: Review of the report including conclusions and recommendation
of the Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel of the Consumer Product Safety
Commission. Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, 25(4), 343.