U.S. – CPSC Approves ASTM F2085-19 for Portable Bed Rails in Direct Final Rule

Vol. 1144 | 31 Mar 2020

As part of the rulemaking process required by Section 104(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA), the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has approved the new ASTM F2085-19 to be incorporated in the federal regulation: 16 CFR 1224 – Safety Standard for Portable Bed Rails.

Since promulgation of the federal rule for portable hook-on chairs, the ASTM F2085-19 is the first actual revision to the standard.

A “portable bed rail” as defined in the ASTM F2085 standard is “a portable railing installed on the side of an adult bed and/or on the mattress surface which is intended to keep a child from falling out of bed.”

Most of the changes from the ASTM F2085-12 to the ASTM F2085-19 version of the standard have been primarily editorial in nature with one significant change intended to address testing materials and repeatability:

• By revising the fiber content of the twin sheet to a 60/40 cotton/polyester blend rather than the 50/50 cotton/polyester blend specified in the standard is meant to account for products more easily available in the consumer market. The change is intended to allow ease of procurement of materials for testing with no significant change to the test.

The revised ASTM F2085-19 standard becomes the mandatory Safety Standard for portable bed rails effective May 20, 2020, as the CPSC did not receive any adverse comments by March 26, 2020.

The Final Rule can be reviewed at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-02-25/pdf/2020-03106.pdf

For questions, please contact Laxmi Ravikumar (laxmi.ravikumar@intertek.com, +1-630-209-9265).