US: HB 3043 amendment to the Oregon Toxic-Free Kids Act (TFKA)

Vol. 1372 | 23 Aug 2023

The Oregon Toxic-Free Kids Act requires manufacturers of children’s products sold in Oregon to report products containing one or more High Priority Chemicals of Concern for Children’s Health (HPCCH) that are intentionally added at or above the practical quantification limit (PQL); or a contaminant with a concentration at or above 100ppm in accessible or inaccessible components.

On July 27, 2023, the governor of Oregon passed the House Bill 3043, revising the provisions related to chemicals in children’s products, and is operative on January 1, 2024. The following amendments further build on the Oregon’s Toxic Free Kids Act passed in 2015: 

1. Added a definition of "class of chemicals." The authority may now regulate a class of chemicals on the list, instead of regulating them one-by-one; 
2. The manufacturer of children's products containing a chemical or member of a class of chemicals at or above a de minimis level shall provide a biennial notice to the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) by January 31st of each applicable notice year; 
3. Brand name and model are newly added to the reporting requirements, for products sold as of January 1, 2025, for reporting on or after January 1, 2026.  
4. Removes a provision prohibiting OHA from adding more than five chemicals to the list of high priority chemicals of concerns for children's health (HPCCCH); 
5. A hazard assessment is valid for three years after the date of submission. Manufacturers must resubmit the hazard assessment at the end of the three-year period. 
6. If the HPCCCH is inaccessible to the consumer, a waiver may be granted.

Key Definitions:

Children’s product - Any of the following products or their component parts that are made for, marketed for use by or marketed to children under 12 years of age:

• A product designed or intended by the manufacturer to facilitate sucking, teething, sleep, relaxation, feeding or drinking;
• Children’s clothing and footwear;
• Car seats;
• Children’s cosmetics;
• Children’s jewelry;
• Toys.

“Class of chemicals” means a group of chemicals that are related or similar based on their structure, physical property, radiological property or other factors.

“Subclass of chemicals” means a group of chemicals within a class of chemicals that likely share the same type and approximate value of a specific toxicological property or other property based upon analysis of:

1. Structure, physicochemical properties, composition, computational bioactivity profiles and toxicokinetic;
2. Mechanism or mode of action, including similarity in eliciting molecular initiating events, key intermediate events and other relevant in vitro data and information; and
3. Other available toxicological and ecotoxicological testing data and information.

Link to the HB 3043 Bill to amend the Oregon Toxic-Free Kids Act is as follows: https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/HB3043/Enrolled.

For questions, please contact our technical experts Harini Ramaswamy (harini.ramaswamy@intertek.com) and Andrew Loveland (andrew.loveland@intertek.com).

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