SGS : US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to Expand Phthalates Restriction under CPSIA

SAFEGUARDS | Consumer Products NO. 162/17

On October 20, 2017, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced [1] that they voted in favor of issuing a final rule on phthalates in children's toys and child care articles based on the recommendations [2] from the Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel (CHAP) report dated July 2014. The final rule will contain a number of important changes to existing requirements for phthalates in children's toys and child care articles under section 108 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA), including:

• Adding four phthalates (DPENP, DHEXP, DCHP and DIBP) to permanent restriction in children's toys and child care articles
• Moving interim restriction of DINP in 'children's toys that can be placed in a child's mouth and child care articles' to permanent restriction in children's toys and child care articles
• Deleting interim restriction of DNOP and DIDP in 'children's toys that can be placed in a child's mouth and child care articles'

The final rule will in effect restrict a total of eight phthalates in children's toys and child care articles.

According to the definitions in CPSIA [3] (PL 110-314),

• Children's toys are consumer products that have play value and are designed or intended by the manufacturer for a child 12 years of age or younger.
• Child care articles are consumer products designed or intended by the manufacturer to facilitate sleep or the feeding of children age 3 and younger, or to help such children with sucking or teething

Phthalates are a group of chemicals used as plasticizers to soften plastics and make them pliable. Phthalates can be found in many consumer products such as vinyl bibs, plastic toys, tote bags for cosmetics and other products made with PVC or imitation leather. According to CPSIA, congress has permanently banned DEHP, DBP or BBP in any amount more than 0.1% (1000 ppm) in children's toys and child care articles. Congress has also banned DINP, DIDP or DNOP on an interim basis in any amount more than 0.1% (1000 ppm) in children's toys that can be placed in a child's mouth or child care articles until the Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel (CHAP) completed its study of the interim banned phthalates and the Commission to promulgate a final rule.

The final rule will go into effect 180 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Abbreviations

SGS is committed to providing information about development in regulations for consumer products as complimentary services. Through a global network of laboratories, SGS provides a wide range of services including physical/mechanical testing, analytical testing and consultancy work for technical and non-technical parameters applicable to a comprehensive range of consumer products. Please do not hesitate to contact us for further information.

Next step:

Stakeholders are advised to comply with the latest requirements for phthalates in children's toys and child care articles for the US market.

For enquiries, please contact:

Hsin Chen
Technical Manager - Restricted Substances
+1 973-461-7950

Stay on top of regulatory changes within your industry: subscribe to SafeGuardS!

Read more articles for the Consumer Goods and Retail industry