December 4, 2014
On December 5, 2014 the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) will hold a briefing on a draft proposed rule of 16 CFR 1307 prohibiting children’s toys and childcare articles sold in the United States from containing specified phthalates. The meeting (9:00 am – 12:00 pm EST) is open to the public and a live webcast of the meeting can be viewed here. A decisional meeting is scheduled for December 17, 2014.
In July 2014, the CPSC-appointed Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel (CHAP) released their Final Report which reviewed the potential health effects of phthalates and phthalate alternatives in toys and child care articles.
The CPSC proposed rule takes the CHAP’s recommendations into account. The key aspects of the proposed rule include: continuing the current permanent ban above 0.1% in all accessible toy and child care article components for DEHP, DBP, and BBP; implementing a permanent ban of DINP in concentrations greater than 0.1% in all children’s toys and childcare articles (DINP is currently subject to an interim ban on mouthable children’s toys/articles); lifting the interim ban of DIDP and DnOP; and implementing a permanent ban above 0.1% on 4 new phthalates - DIBP, DPENP, DHEXP and DCHP (which are not currently restricted by CPSIA).
Why It Matters
If the Commission votes in favor of this proposed rule (as currently written) on December 17, the Final Rule will become effective 180 days (~6 Months) after being published in the Federal Register. Retailers and manufacturers of toys and childcare articles (subject to the mandatory certification requirements) will then be required to certify their products based on third-party accredited testing to the new method which will include analysis for the four newly added phthalates (DPENP, DHEXP, DIBP and DCHP).
It should be noted that this is subject to change depending on the outcome of the December 5th briefing meeting and December 17th decisional meeting.
How UL Can Help
Across our global network of laboratories, UL’s third-party testing services can help ensure CPSC regulatory compliance.
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