August 18, 2017, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (S.D.Y.N) made a judgment on the US Consumer products safety Commission’s (CPSC) dereliction of duty, which CPSC agreed to finalize a rule that could ban five phthalates in toys by October 18.
In late 2014, CPSC issued a proposed rule to ban five phthalates in children’s toys, at levels greater than 0.1%, involving:
diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP);
di-n-pentyl phthalate (DnPP);
di-n-hexyl phthalate (DnHP);
dicyclohexyl phthalate (DCHP); and
diisononyl phthalate (DINP).
This proposed rule issued at the recommendation of the Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel (CHAP) and its report in 2014, focusing on health effects of certain phthalates. The report also requires CPSC to issue the final rule within 180 days of the CHAP’S REPORT on January 14, 2015. But the lawsuit coming from NGO states that CPSC has missed this deadline by almost two years.
Predictably, the US will permanently ban those toys contains 8 phthalates, involving DEHP, DBP, BBP, DINP, DIBP, DPP, DNHP, DCHP.(Click for details - reported by C&K Testing in December 2014)
It also should not be overlooked that toy manufacturers are required to verify its product is compliance with phthalate items by 3rd-party testing under CPSC, which is often criticized for its overburdening manufacturers. But CPSC issued a proposal in August 2016, which is intended to help toy manufacturers relieve their burden. (Click for details on CPSC’s proposal-C&K reported in August 2016)
In this instance, CPSC issued its final rule that PP, PE, GPPS, MIPS, HIPS, SHIPS and ABS plastics containing specific additive will get its testing exemption on 3rd-part.
In the US, phthalate limit is not only stated in CPSIA, but also get limitation from ASTM F963, which requires DEHP must less than 3%. While its testing standard ASTM D3421 has been abolished. So CPSC’s amendment of phthalate may be a puzzle for enterprises to choose testing standards. Even if ASTM indicates that enterprises could continue to take CPSC-CH-C1001-09.3 as testing standards, it is certain that ASTM F963 will face its revise before long.
C&K reminds, China, the biggest toy exporting country worldwide, should keep attention on CPSC’s phthalate limit, which indicates to have a dramatic impact on Chinese toy manufacturers. C&K Lab, a 3rd-part lab accredited by CPSC, provides technical services of CPSIA, ASTM F963, Helping enterprises span TBT.
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