DENVER -- More people are turning to thrift stores to save money, while at the same time some second-hand shops are being forced to pull children’s clothes and toys off their shelves.

It is the result of a sweeping federal law limiting lead content that went into effect on Feb. 10, and it has some customers concerned.

“We’re feeling the crunch and try to save money where we can,” said bargain shopper Serine Shannon, who buys clothes for her 6-month-old son at Goodwill. “You can get things that are usually $10 or $20 at the store for $1 or $2.”

But what she can’t get are shopping carts full of donated clothes, pulled from the shelves and kept in the warehouse because they might have some lead content.

Ric Berninzoni, Vice President of Operations for Goodwill Industries of Denver, said his company has removed about 25 percent of its children’s merchandise, but he called it a guessing game.

”Without good, concise guidelines, we have no idea what we’re doing and if we’re doing it correctly,” he said.

Under the new law, thrift stores don’t have to test for lead, but they do have to comply with strict regulations banning the sale of any children’s items with a certain lead content.

A spokesman with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said it is working on a handbook for thrift stores and has given some guidelines.

“Those clothes that do not have zippers, metal snaps, appliqués, they are fine to be sold,” said Scott Wolfson, a CPSC Spokesman. ”What we’ll be seeing kind of naturally is the cycling out of what could be volatile clothes and then safer clothes will be coming in the near future.”

But frustrated resellers have said there is no way to know for sure if clothing or toys have lead in them without the cost-prohibitive testing or clear guidelines.

Several children’s resale shops in the metro area said they haven’t changed anything because they believe they are exempt.

Nationally, some thrift stores have decided to stop selling children’s items altogether because of liability reasons.

”I think that would be a disaster,” said Shannon. ”I know a lot of families wouldn’t be able to clothe their kids if they didn’t get the clothes at thrift stores.”

Goodwill International has joined a coalition of nonprofit thrift stores to lobby legislators for better direction.