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Re-activateTwo key provisions of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act intended to limit the amount of lead and phthalates in children's products on the market will take effect tomorrow. The new law will limit the total lead content in most children's products to no more than 600 parts per million in any accessible part. Previously, this limit applied only to lead in paint and surface coatings. The law will also limit the amount of six phthalates (DEHP, DBP, BBP, DINP, DIDP, and DnOP) to 1,000 ppm. Among other things, phthalates are used to make vinyl and other plastics used in children's products soft and flexible. The same six phthalates are banned from children's products sold in Europe.
Recently, the CPSC spelled out its enforcement policy for the new lead limits and provided guidance for complying with the phthalates requirements. Certain natural materials such as wood, cotton, wool and certain metals and alloys will be exempt from enforcement of the lead requirements since they rarely, if ever, contain lead. Also exempt will be ordinary children's books printed after 1985 as well as textiles and non-metallic threads and trim used in children's apparel. In addition, the CPSC also announced that it would not enforce the overall testing and certification requirements for one more year in order to give the agency and those affected by the requirements time to sort out compliance issues.
Consumer groups, including Consumers Union, strongly support the positive reforms that are established by the new product safety law, especially the new limits on lead and phthalates that can harm children. Not only will our children be better off for it, so will manufacturers and retailers as consumer confidence is restored in the safety of children's products in the marketplace.
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