The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is the U.S. federal agency responsible for protecting consumers from known risks related to the ordinary use of a consumer product and reducing hazards associated with them. Clothing and textiles are considered consumer products and as such are subject to the guidelines set forth by CPSC, which, with respect to this new rule, are the federal rules and regulations found at 16 CFR Part 1500.
Recently, CPSC announced its final determination that certain materials do not exceed the lead content limits specified in the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA), section 101(a). Under this section, a consumer product is considered a banned hazardous substance under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA) where it
1.Is a consumer product designed or intended for children 12 years old and younger, i.e., a “children's consumer product,” and
2.Contains more than 300 ppm of lead (as of 8/14/09, formerly 600 ppm through 8/13/09. This rule is subject to change as of 8/14/11, to a lower limit of 100 ppm of lead, unless CPSC determines it is not technologically feasible to have this lower limit)
Until this Final Rule was published, the children's apparel industry, among others, had been scrambling to meet the testing requirements mandated by CPSIA which not only required the testing, but mandated that it be done only by CPSC accredited labs. Major concerns over the lead paint and lead content testing of apparel, non-textile components, such as zippers and buttons, and decals or paints applied to the surface of textiles, had been raised in an effort to comply with the new standards and provide adequate support for the certifications made in the still mandatory “General Certificate of Conformity” (GCC) which is a declaration by an importer, U.S. domestic manufacturer or retailer, certifying to a product's conformance with CPSC rules.
The Final Rule, Lead Content and Children's Apparel:
Whether for children or adults, the main component of a clothing article is its fabric. Certain components such as a zipper or buttons may be either necessary or used as adornment, as is common with children's apparel, however their use with clothing tends to be minimal. Clothing may be 100% of a material such as cotton, or a blend such as polyester and spandex. Lastly, there may be a decorative element of some type such as a decal or rhinestones also sewn or glued onto a garment. All of these fabrics and components are subject to certification that they are in compliance with the CPSIA lead content rules.
In its Final Rule, CPSC announced its determination that “certain products or materials inherently do not contain lead or contain lead at levels that do not exceed the lead content limits under CPSIA, section 101(a),” provided that “these materials have neither been treated or adulterated with the addition of materials that could result in the addition of lead into the product or material.” Included in this list are textiles consisting of
1.Natural fibers, whether dyed or undyed, inc., inter alia, i.e., among other things, cotton, ramie, linen, silk, and alpaca; and
2.Manufactured fibers, whether dyed or undyed, inc., inter alia, rayon, polyester, nylon, acrylic and spandex
In everyday language, this means that lead content testing is no longer required of apparel made up of 100% of, or any blend of, any of these materials because CPSC has determined that “most textile products are manufactured using processes that do not introduce lead or result in an end product that would not exceed the CPSIA's lead limits.” This does not mean, however, that the requirement to provide a GCC has been eliminated, however the underlying testing of a textile made up of one or more of these fabrics, which supports a declaration of conformity on a GCC, is no longer required. Despite being relieved from testing however, manufacturers and importers remain responsible for verifying that the product or material has not been altered or modified so as to cause lead to enter the material or product.
With regards to the other components of a garment, the Final Rule does not relieve the testing requirement for metal and plastic items, such as zippers, snaps and buttons since the CPSC was unable to make a determination that component parts made of plastic or metal are below the mandated lead content limits. In an upcoming rulemaking however, a date for which was not announced by CPSC, CPSC intends to address component part testing, as well as delineate products which may fall into an exemption.
In addition, other components like glass beads and rhinestones also remain subject to CPSIA lead content testing since many leaded glass based products contain lead levels that exceed the statutory limits. A lifting of this testing is not likely to occur as CPSC specifically voted on July 17, 2009 to not exclude these items from the lead content requirements.
BEWARE! CPSC intends to make random inspections of products in the marketplace to assure compliance with CPSIA. For products found to exceed the lead limits, appropriate enforcement action will be taken, which could include monetary penalties and/or criminal liability.
Therefore, when using a new manufacturer or supplier, testing for lead content at the outset of a production would be prudent action for any importer to make to meet its U.S. Customs informed compliance obligations. As discussed briefly below, lead paint requirements for children's apparel still stand. Therefore it would likely be more cost effective to have the lead content and paint testing done at the same time.
The Final Rule and Lead Paint:
The Final Rule still mandates the testing of children's consumer products where a paint has been applied to the surface, or the material or product has been treated with paint or a similar surface coating [16 CFR 1303 and section 14 of Consumer Product Safety Act, as amended by section 102(a) of CPSIA]. Therefore, any apparel with pigments applied to the surface of the textile material must be tested.
This blog post focuses on the Final Rule provisions related to apparel and textiles, however the determinations regarding lead content across various materials and consumer products, including ceramic glaze and clay, precious gemstones and paper, and non-consumer products, like cosmetics and foodstuffs, were also discussed in the published rule, the complete version of which may be found at 74 FR 43031, dated August 26, 2009, which is also the effective date of the Final Rule. It should be noted that any quoted references herein also are taken from this publication. For more information about the Consumer Safety Product Commission, click here to go to the website.
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