Health Canada Proposes to Expand the Scope of Consumer Products Covered for Total Lead Restrictions

Vol. 939 | 12 Dec 2016

On December 3, 2016, Health Canada published proposal for the Consumer Products Containing Lead Regulationsⁱ in Canada Gazette, Part I to expand the scope of the product covered for total lead restrictions under the Consumer Products Containing Lead (Contact with Mouth) Regulations. This proposal would add total lead content requirement for the accessible components of products identified in Group 2 of Canada’s Lead Risk Reduction Strategy for Consumer Products (LRRS), in addition to the products currently covered by the Consumer Products Containing Lead (Contact with Mouth) Regulations. The products in Group 2 proposed for total lead content regulation are:

• Products intended for use in learning or play (toys) by children from the ages of 3 to under 14;
• Children’s clothing and accessories; and
• Products whose primary purpose is to facilitate the relaxation, sleep, hygiene, carrying or transportation of a child under 4 years of age.

With the proposed amendment, the total lead content requirement will be 90 ppm (mg/kg) for accessible components of following products:

1. A product that is brought into contact with the user’s mouth during normal use, except for
2. A kitchen utensil, or
3. A product that is subject to the Glazed Ceramics and Glassware Regulations;
4. Any clothing or clothing accessory that is intended for use by a child under 14 years of age;
5. A product that is intended for use in learning or play by a child under 14 years of age;
6. A book or similar printed product that is intended for a child under 14 years of age, except if it is
7. Printed on paper or cardboard, and
8. Printed and bound in a conventional manner using conventional materials;
9. A product whose primary purpose is to facilitate the relaxation, sleep, hygiene, carrying or transportation of a child under four years of age.

Each accessible part of above products may contain more than 90 mg/kg of lead if:

• Lead is necessary to produce an essential characteristic of the part;
• No alternative part containing less lead is available; AND
• The part, when tested in accordance with good laboratory practices, does not release more than 90 mg/kg of lead.

It should be noted that the total lead content limit under proposed regulation is 90 ppm, which is 10 ppm lower than the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) total lead content limit of 100 ppm; the scope for clothing and accessories is under 14 years unlike that of CPSIA, which is under 13 years (12 years of age or younger); and that the final product category (Category 5 in the list above) covers more than childcare articles as defined in Health Canada Phthalates regulation, as this category also covers products for carrying or transportation.

The effective date is proposed to be the sixth months after publication in the Canada Gazette, Part II.

Deadline for submitting public comments is February 16, 2017, which is 75 days after the date of publication of the proposed regulation in the Canada Gazette, Part I.

The Proposed Regulation can be viewed at: http://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2016/2016-12-03/html/reg4-eng.php

For questions, please contact Dr. Pratik Ichhaporia (pratik.ichhaporia@intertek.com, 312-906-7720) or Laxmi Ravikumar (laxmi.ravikumar@intertek.com, +1-630-209-9265).

 

ⁱ  http://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2016/2016-12-03/html/reg4-eng.php