U.S. – CPSC Proposes to Exempt Four Polymeric Materials from CPSIA Phthalate Content Testing Requirements

Vol. 926 | 22 Aug 2016

On August 17, 2016, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) published notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) to exempt four polymeric materials – polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) – from the third-party testing requirement of toys and childcare articles under the Section 108 phthalate content requirements of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA).

What does this mean?

The proposed exemption removes the requirement to test these materials for phthalates restricted by CPSIA section 108 at a third-party lab to support the certification. However, it still requires that the material meet the phthalate requirement.

This exemption will remain valid even if the phthalate rule is amended based on the Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel (CHAP) report to remove the interim ban on diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP) and di-n-octylphthalate (DnOP) and to add bans for diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP), di-n-pentyl phthalate (DPENP), di-n-hexyl phthalate (DHEXP) and dicyclohexyl phthalate (DCHP).

When will this go in effect?

Effective date is proposed to be 30 days after the final rule is published in the Federal Register.

Deadline for submitting public comments on this proposed rule is October 31, 2016.

The NPR can be reviewed at: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2016-08-17/pdf/2016-19464.pdf

For questions, please contact Dr. Pratik Ichhaporia (pratik.ichhaporia@intertek.com, 312-906-7720).