On September 8, 2016, we reported that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) had issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would reduce the burden of testing for phthalates in children's toys and child care articles. Phthalates are commonly used to soften plastics and as components of paints and adhesives. Under the final rule issued on August 30, 2017, CPSC has determined that the following plastics made with any additive specified in the rule would not contain prohibited phthalates, and therefore third party laboratory testing for the prohibited phthalates will no longer be required: Polypropylene (PP), Polyethylene (PE), Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), High-impact polystyrene (HIPS), and—added to the final rule—General Purpose Polystyrene (GPPS), Medium-Impact Polystyrene (MIPS), and Super High-Impact Polystyrene (SHIPS).
Under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA), manufacturers (including importers) are required to certify, based upon testing by an accredited third party lab accepted by CPSC, that a children's product complies with all CPSC-enforced standards before the product is imported or distributed in commerce. Among the CPSC-enforced standards for which such third party lab testing is required is the 0.1 percent limit on the following phthalates in accessible components of children's toys and child care articles that are plasticized or may contain phthalates: di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), diisononyl phthalate (DINP), diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP), and di-n-octyl phthalate (DnOP).
This new rule does not change the underlying obligation to comply with the phthalates prohibition and certify compliance of children's toys and child care articles with the prohibition, but the rule should provide manufacturers and importers some relief from the required testing.
The effective date for the rule is September 29, 2017.
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