The Washington State Department of Ecology is investigating five apparent self-reported violations of cadmium and phthalate levels in children’s products.

Each year, manufacturers of children’s items in Washington are required to report the presence of Chemicals of High Concern to Children (CHCC), under the Children’s Safe Products Act (CSPA).

There were 5,300 reports filed of toxic chemicals in the products, sold between 9 March and 6 September this year. They were from 87 companies.

Washington State of Ecology’s CSPA lead confirmed there had been two apparent state, and three apparent federal, violations, reported by four companies.

According to a report by the NGO Toxic-Free Future, these included:

• levels of cadmium, between 100ppm and 500ppm, reported in non-motorised ride-on toys sold by MGA Little Tikes, in excess of the state's 40ppm limit;
• cadmium levels, between 100ppm and 500ppm, in textiles of toys and games variety packs sold by Dollar Tree; and
• more than 1,000ppm of the phthalate DEHP in toys and games variety packs reported by Dollar Tree, above the federal limit of 1,000ppm.

But it was impossible to know the exact products which exceeded the limits because Washington's rules only require companies to report the product category containing CHCC substances.

This is in contrast to Vermont, where the Chemicals of High Concern in Children's Products Rule will require companies to report at a product-specific level.

The Washington Ecology Department has launched a public consultation aiming to add 20 substances to its Chemicals of High Concern to Children list (CHCC) and also delist 2 substances from the list. The public consultation ends on 14 November 2016 (Washington intends to update CHCC list reported by C&K Testing). C&K Testing advises businesses to deal with due care.

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