I tried, but I can't resist weighing in on this. For the past several weeks I've spent way more time than should have been necessary in dealing with the lead in consumer products issues.
It would be hard to find a source from whom to buy lead paint in the US. It is nearly impossible to find non-lead paint in China. Everything you buy from China has some lead in it, the FDA regulates products that are intended for contact with food (dinnerware, coffee mugs, pots and pans, etc). The FDA has a system in place to catch products that exceed the mas PPM, it is a spot check system, same as they use for foods, cosmetics, drugs, toiletries, etc. Spot testing is not as good as 100% testing, but 100% is not feasable and products that exceed the max will get caught eventually. Since children are especially prone to chewing on their toys, jewelry and room decor, and since ingesting lead is particularily harmful to children, the makers of products for children need to be extra attentive to lead issues.
Somebody needs to get a dose of reality on this issue. There are systems in place to catch the lead, they work reasonably well if not absolutely. US importers are highly motivated to sell safe products. When a product is found to contain lead, we could view that as evidence that the system that was established to detect containments is working. Instead it seems like we take that as unfounded evidence that everything that comes from China is contanimated.
After talking to a good number of consumers who are alarmed about possible lead content and wanting to see testing lab results for every single painted item that they touch, I wish they could get all of them to understand the following: China is not one big manufacturing plant that is tightly managed by one management team. It consists of hundreds of thousands of manufacturers; some good and some bad. In aggregate they are highly motivated to make products that are acceptable to the US and other markets (European lead content standards are more stringent than US) including their domestic market, because they are aware that if they repeatedly fail to meet safety standards, their customers will leave them and/or their government will close them down.
So who is to blame here? Is it the chicken or the egg? Are US suppliers, distributors and retailers to blame because they are trying to lower production costs? Or is it the US consumer because she/he is willing to buy the lowest cost product, even if the quality is questionable? Who is to say that the quality is always less if a product is made in China, I believe it is often better if it is China made.
Do you appreciate quality enough to pay extra for better service, better quality and a better purchasing experience? Or, are you a highly motivated "lowest price" buyer?
Do you buy your pen supplies from CSUSA because they have a killer site, a catalog that is more like a coffee table art book than a catalog, only the best of the best of products and great service? Or do you go looking for somebody selling more or less comparable merchandise for a few pennies less?
I wish I could say that I always make my purchase decisions based on quality issues, but I can't, and I believe that few people can. I've tried over and over to sell made in USA for a higher price because the quality was better, and it has never come even close to working out.
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