U.S. – Maryland Approves Bill to Restrict Flame Retardants in Certain Consumer Products

Vol. 1156 | 20 May 2020

On May 8, 2020, Senate bill SB447 was enacted as Maryland Governor Hogan did not veto the bill within 30 days after it was presented after passing both chambers. The bill prohibits a person from importing, selling, or offering for sale certain products containing flame retardants. The bill restricts the sale of any juvenile product, mattress, upholstered furniture or reupholstered furniture containing more than 0.1% by mass or 1000 ppm of a ‘flame retardant chemical’.

A ‘Flame retardant chemical’ as defined in the bill is any substance that inhibits the spread of fire, or that acts as a synergist to a chemical that serves this role, AND

• contains one or more halogen elements, including fluorine, chlorine, bromine or iodine;
• contains one or more carbon elements and one or more phosphorus or nitrogen elements; or
• is a nanoscale chemical.

Products within the scope of this regulation are defined as below:

• Juvenile products are a consumer product intended for use by a child under the age of 12 years
• Upholstered Furniture refers to furniture products made of filling materials, barrier materials, decking materials and/or cover fabrics
• Reupholstered furniture is a product whose original fabric, padding, decking, barrier material, foam, or other resilient filling has been replaced and has not been offered for sale since the time of replacement
• Mattress, as defined in 16 CFR 1632, is ticking filled with a resilient material used alone or in combination with other products intended or promoted for sleeping upon

The above restricted products do not include:

• An electronic component or casing of an electronic component
• A component of upholstered or reupholstered furniture other than cover fabric, barrier material, resilient filling material and decking material
• Thread or fiber when used for stitching mattress components together
• A component of an adult mattress except for foam

Willful violators could face civil penalties of up to $2,500 for a first offence, $5,000 for a second violation, and up to $10,000 for repeated violations.

The law becomes effective January 1, 2021, and the Maryland Department of Health has until June 1, 2021 to adopt laws to enforce the same.

The Maryland Senate Bill 447 can be reviewed at: http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/sb0447

For questions, please contact Stella Li (xingyu.li@intertek.com, +1- 503-351-9612), Laxmi Ravikumar (laxmi.ravikumar@intertek.com, +1-630-209-9265), or Pratik Ichhaporia (pratik.ichhaporia@intertek.com, +1-847-212-8273).