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Chemical Requirements
MORE STRINGENT REQUIREMENTS FOR LEAD AND PHTHALATES
Lead Ban Rule
New chemical substance requirements ensure that children products will comply with widespread bans on lead and phthalates. One of the significant impacts on the textile industry includes widespread bans on lead. The aim of the lead bans in all children’s products is to prevent children from being poisoned when they eat paint chips or dust from paint chips (after ageing of paint) containing lead, or lick their fingers after playing with or touching certain lead-containing products.
Lead ban requirements (Sec. 101):
| Substance |
Scope |
Test Method |
Requirement |
Effective Date |
Lead |
Total substrate of products for children up to age 12 |
Acid digestion followed by AAS or ICP-AES/OES |
≤ 600 ppm ≤ 300 ppm ≤ 100 ppm (if technologically feasible) |
10 Feb, 2009 14 Aug, 2009 14 Aug, 2011 (The date of inventory or on store shelves) |
Lead |
Paint / surface coating |
With reference to ASTM E1645-01 and E1613-04. |
≤ 600 ppm ≤ 90 ppm (may be lowered after scientific studies) |
Current 14 Aug, 2009 (The date of inventory or on store shelves) |
Remarks:
- Total substrate excludes any component part of a children’s product that is not accessible to a child through normal and reasonably foreseeable use and abuse of such product.
- Reasonably foreseeable use and abuse shall include, swallowing, mouthing, breaking, or other children’s activities, and the aging of the product.
- Paint, coating or electroplating are not barriers to the substrate being inaccessible as these substances may peel off or ageing from the total substrate.
New Phthalates Legislation
The prohibition of phthalates is one of the new requirements of the CPSIA. Mandatory and interim bans on phthalates apply to toys for children and childcare articles. “Children’s toys” include products “designed or intended by the manufacturer for a child up to age 12 for use by the child when the child plays”. “Child care articles” are defined as “a consumer product designed or intended by the manufacturer to facilitate sleep or the feeding of children up to age 3, or to help such children with sucking or teething".
Phthalates ban requirements (Sec. 108):
| Group |
Phthalate |
Scope |
Requirement |
Effective Date |
1 |
DEHP DBP BBP |
Toys for children 12 years of age or younger and childcare articles for children 3 years of age or younger |
≤ 0.1 % ≤ 0.1 % ≤ 0.1 % |
10 Feb, 2009 |
2 |
DIDP DINP DNOP |
Interim Ban Toys for children 12 years of age or younger that can be placed in the mouth and childcare articles for children 3 years of age or younger |
≤ 0.1 % ≤ 0.1 % ≤ 0.1 % |
Remarks:
- “A toy can be placed in a child’s mouth if any part of the toy can actually be brought to the mouth and kept in the mouth by a child so that it can be sucked and chewed.
- “Placed in the mouth” is defined if a toy or a part of a toy in one dimension is smaller than 5 cm. If the children’s product can only be licked, it is not regarded as able to be placed in the mouth.
The information was last updated on Feb 2009 so for more details, please visit US Consumer Product Safety Commission.
