Continuing our review of state green chemistry laws, Maine’s Safer Chemicals in Children’s Products Act primarily requires reporting the use of specified chemicals in certain children’s products based on risk and hazard criteria, although it may be used to restrict or ban use. Manufacturers of certain children’s products that contain specified chemicals must submit a … Continue reading
Updating our prior post, President Obama has signed the TSCA reform bill into law. We will continue to provide updates as expectations for implementation develop.… Continue reading
Following the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment’s proposed regulations for temporary point-of-sale warnings for BPA exposures from canned and bottled foods and beverages, this week OEHHA finalized the Maximum Allowable Dose Level for BPA of 3 micrograms per day from dermal exposure from solid materials. The MADL will go into effect on October … Continue reading
After significant industry speculation over what consumer products would be the first targets for Proposition 65 BPA enforcement, the Center for Environmental Health issued the first BPA 60-day notice of violation on June 14, 2016, a little over a month after BPA’s listing anniversary date. The notice is not for canned food; it is not … Continue reading
After decades of stalled efforts, the House and Senate have both passed TSCA reform legislation. The bill, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 2576), is the result of extensive negotiations between the House and Senate to reconcile differences between competing TSCA reform bills in both houses. We expect the … Continue reading
The FTC has recently proposed amendments to the Disclosure Rule and Pre-Sale Availability Rule it issued under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, the federal law governing warranties on consumer products. These amendments come in response to the E-Warranty Act of 2015, which President Obama signed into law in September 2015. Click through to the full discussion that my colleagues, … Continue reading
On May 16, OEHHA issued its fifth iteration of the revised Proposition 65 warning regulations. As these changes largely seek to clarify existing language in the proposed regulations since the prior revision in March, we have a pretty good idea of what the final regulations will look like (although OEHHA does reserve the right to … Continue reading
CPSC just announced a record $15.4 million civil penalty settlement with Gree, manufacturers of dehumidifiers widely sold throughout the United States. While the magnitude of this blockbuster settlement makes it newsworthy, what it tells us about CPSC’s perspective on enforcement actions is the real story. CPSC’s allegations The limited allegations in the published settlement agreement allege … Continue reading
On March 27, 2015, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment added beta-myrcene to the California Proposition 65 chemical list. Under Proposition 65, products containing newly listed chemicals require a warning starting 12 months after the listing. As a result, warnings for significant exposures will be required as of March 27, 2016. Uses for beta-myrcene … Continue reading
After several false starts, Proposition 65 warnings will be required for exposures to bisphenol A (BPA) starting on May 11, 2016. Because of tremendous uncertainty regarding the amount of BPA exposure that will require a warning, as well as the ubiquitous nature of the chemical, on March 17, 2016, California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard … Continue reading
Continuing our coverage of the Washington’s Children’s Safe Products Act, the Washington Department of Ecology recently issued guidance clarifying its enforcement policy of the Washington Act’s prohibition on the manufacturing and sale of children’s products containing lead, cadmium, and phthalates. In this guidance, the Department concedes that the federal Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act preempts … Continue reading
CPSC Chairman Kaye gave the keynote address at ICPHSO CPSC Day, providing announcements on some CPSC policy changes and focusing on his priorities for the upcoming year. These include: Reporting of products sold in the US, Canada, and Mexico Chairman Kaye announced that CPSC is collaborating regularly with Health Canada and Profeco in Mexico. As part … Continue reading
CPSC Chairman Elliot Kaye and Health Canada’s Acting Director General, Consumer Product Safety Directorate James Van Loon addressed ICPHSO and the media jointly, to announce that CPSC and Health Canada are united in their commitment to eliminate corded blinds due to the risk of injury to children from cords. Chairman Kaye stated that he believes this is … Continue reading
This panel, fully titled “Challenges to Recalls, How to Get Consumers to Respond to Recalls, and New Effective Ways to Reach Consumers,” featured Carolyn Carlin, Christoper Nguyen, and Tanya Topka from CPSC. Here are key points from the session. Social Media: CPSC Compliance Officer Carolyn Carlin stated that she not only expects recalling companies to … Continue reading
Good morning from ICPHSO CPSC Day. Over the course of the day, I will post updates and highlights from CPSC Day, with particular focus on comments from CPSC Chairman Elliot Kaye. I have added my thoughts throughout. One call out – whenever CPSC personnel speak at ICPHSO, they disclaim their comments as their opinion only, … Continue reading
Late last week, the CPSC Office of Compliance and Field Operations issued a letter on the CPSC website to “Manufacturers, Importers, and Retailers of Self-Balancing Scooters” that ultimately makes a new voluntary safety standard for self-balancing scooters, typically called “hoverboards,” mandatory. The “voluntary” standard On February 2, 2016, UL issued its standard, UL 2272 – Outline … Continue reading
Updating an issue we have been tracking, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment finalized the No Significant Risk Level for DINP of 146 µg/day. The NSRL will got into effect April 1, 2016. Once in effect, this will be the level of exposure at which a warning is required for DINP. This will … Continue reading
In our previous post on Washington’s Children’s Safe Products Act, we focused on the Act’s reporting requirement. But the Act also contains provisions prohibiting the sale of children’s products containing certain chemicals above the following limits: Lead: 90 parts per million (ppm) Cadmium: 40 ppm; and Phthalates in children’s products in excess of 1,000 ppm … Continue reading
This week we turn from federal law to the patchwork of state laws that cropped up due to TSCA’s failures. First up is Washington’s green chemistry law: the Children’s Safe Products Act. The CSPA requires manufacturers of children’s products sold in Washington to file a report with the state if their product contains certain chemicals. … Continue reading
The Toxic Substances Control Act and resulting regulations are the federal regulatory structure for chemicals management. TSCA (tah-ska) authorizes the US EPA to review and regulate chemicals. For many existing chemicals, TSCA requires manufacturers to work with EPA to fill in data gaps on risk, and new chemicals must undergo pre-market screening. If EPA determines a … Continue reading
Among the many consumer product buzzwords, green chemistry may be on top of the pile. Depending upon your job, industry, or viewpoint, it also may have a variety of meanings, triggering still other buzzwords — alternatives assessment; restricted substances list; chemicals of concern; life cycle assessment. In the same vein as our California Proposition 65 miniseries, we here at … Continue reading
Continuing the saga of revisions to the Prop 65 regulations, OEHHA has repealed its January 2015 clear and reasonable warning proposed rulemaking and replaced it with a new proposed regulation. The new proposed rulemaking addresses many concerns raised by the business community, either addressing the issue or explaining why OEHHA will not change it. A … Continue reading
ECHA has recently issued revised guidance on substances in articles under REACH. The guidance follows a September 2015 ruling from the European Court of Justice that invalidated ECHA’s prior interpretation – effectively turning this aspect of REACH compliance on its head. The REACH Regulation The REACH Regulation addresses the production and use of chemical substances … Continue reading
Among the many consumer product buzzwords, green chemistry may be on top of the pile. Depending upon your job, industry, or viewpoint, it also may have a variety of meanings, triggering still other buzzwords — alternatives assessment; restricted substances list; chemicals of concern; life cycle assessment. In the same vein as our California Proposition 65 miniseries, we here at … Continue reading