U.S. – Washington State Department of Ecology Issues Guidance to Part I of the Children’s Safe Products Act Lead, Cadmium and Phthalates Restriction

Vol. 899 | 07 Mar 2016

The State of Washington’s Children’s Safe Products Act (CSPA) is a two part rule: Part I restricts the use of lead, cadmium and phthalates in children’s products under the scope of the CSPA; while Part II is the Reporting rule, requiring reporting for the presence of any of the 66 chemicals, designated as the chemicals of high concern to children (CHCC).

There is some overlap between part I of CSPA and the federal Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). The children’s products regulated by the CPSIA are preempted from the Washington state CSPA requirements and enforcement.

However, the lead, cadmium and phthalate restrictions of the CSPA Part I are stricter and cover a broader range of children’s products. Thus, for those categories of products considered ‘children’s products’ by the Washington CSPA and not by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, requirements of the Washington CSPA Part I apply and are subject to enforcement.

Recent enforcement activities by the Washington Department of Ecology have brought to light the rather widespread misbelief that part I of the CSPA is completely preempted by the CPSIA. As a result, on February 12, 2016, the Department of Ecology issued a guidance document intended to clarify the sections of the CSPA part I lead, cadmium and phthalate requirements preempted by the CPSIA and those that are not.

Key points from the guidance document:

• The Department of Ecology will evaluate if the product is a children’s product (as defined by Washington CSPA), followed by determination if the product will be covered by the Federal requirement (CPSIA).
• If product is considered as a children’s product and not covered by the CPSIA requirement, the Washington CSPA Part 1 restrictions will apply.
• Examples of products that are considered children’s products and will be covered by Washington CSPA as they are not preempted by CPSIA are:
  • Lead: Children’s car seats will have to meet CSPA lead requirements as they are not covered by CPSIA.
  • Cadmium: Children’s products other than toys will have to meet CSPA cadmium requirements. For example clothing, footwear, cosmetics and jewelry will have to meet the Washington CSPA cadmium requirements.
  • Phthalates: Children’s products other than toys and childcare articles will have to meet the CSPA phthalates requirements. For example clothing, jewelry, footwear, and cosmetics will have to meet Washington CSPA phthalates requirements.

The Washington CSPA Part I may be found at: http://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=70.240.020.

For questions, please contact Laxmi Ravikumar (laxmi.ravikumar@intertek.com, 630-209-9265) or Dr. Pratik Ichhaporia (pratik.ichhaporia@intertek.com, 312-906-7720).