Safety Commission To Rule On Safety of Rulers In Science Kits

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has been trying decide for weeks if science kits designed to teach children are safe enough for children to use without vigorous testing. It's not just the chemicals or sharp items in the kits that they are troubled with however. They are also concerned about the dangers of paper clips, magnets, and rulers. From the article: "Science kit makers asked for a testing exemption for the paper clips and other materials. The commission declined to grant them a blanket waiver as part of the guidance the agency approved Wednesday on a 3-2 vote." To be fair, paper clips can cause a lot of damage — just look at what Clippy did to Microsoft Office.

Comments

Re:Wont somebody please think of the children!

[camperdave]

Why would you want to give a kid a ruler with inches on it in the first place? Inches are only used in backward, ignorant countries like Liberia and Burma.

Re:Can't you simulate a chemistry set with softwar

[Shotgun]

What the story is really about is the committee trying to make their mandate apply to absolutely everything, regardless of whether it had any real chance of causing damage to children.

Which is what every beaurucracy does. Slowly expand it's boundaries to increase its size.

Why in the hell is a committee of five people given the power to destroy an entire market segment? At most, the committee should have the power to require a "might contain lead" label. Giving them the power to ban products is just ridiculous.