CPSC Adopts 100 Parts Per Million Limit for Lead in Children's Products
The Consumer Product Safety Commission voted today to adopt a 100 parts per million (ppm) limit for the total lead content in the accessible parts of children’s products, effective August 14, 2011. The current limit is 300 ppm. The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) provides that the CPSC is to lower the limit to 100 ppm three years after enactment of the CPSIA unless the CPSC determines that a 100 ppm limit would not be “technologically feasible.”
In June, the CPSC staff, after accepting public comments and conducting its own study of the issue, determined that it is technologically feasible for businesses to comply with the 100 ppm limit. The CPSC staff found that for most categories of products, lead content is already low, and that for other categories of products, materials or technologies exist that manufacturers can specify to meet the 100 ppm limit. Accordingly, as of August 14, 2011, it will be unlawful to manufacture for sale, sell, import or distribute non-exempt children’s products that have a total lead content in excess of 100 ppm. Additionally, as of that date, third-party testing and certification for compliance with the 100 ppm limit will be required of importers of record and domestic manufacturers of children’s products.
This is the fourteenth in a series of Troutman Sanders CPSIA Advisories.