US Consumer Product Safety Commission announces new limits for lead in children's products

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) determined through a vote (3 to 2) that there is insufficient evidence that manufacturers of children's products sold in the U.S. market cannot meet the limit value for a product or a product whose total lead content does not exceed 100 ppm. Since August 14, 2011, this total lead content limit proposed by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of the United States (CPSIA) will take effect for children's products, ie, manufacturers, importers, retailers, and distributors of children's products. Meets the new total lead limit requirement.

The U.S. Congress has set new lead limits for products for children 12 and under, through CPSIA. Lead is a heavy metal that harms the health of children and may reduce children’s ability to learn, damage hearing and brain, and even endanger life.

Congress requested the CPSC to gradually reduce the total lead level from 600 ppm to 100 ppm for three years beginning on February 10, 2009, unless the Commission finds that a certain product or type of product cannot technically meet this limit. As of August 14, 2009, the lead content limit has dropped to 300 ppm.

So far, the Commission has not been able to determine that the 100 ppm total lead limit is technically unattainable because CPSC personnel have found that there are materials on the market that have a total lead content of less than 100 ppm that can be used by manufacturers. At the same time, they also found that many products currently on the market have been tested by the CPSC or other agencies and have reached the new 100 ppm total lead limit.

Therefore, from August 14, 2011, manufacturers, importers, retailers, and distributors of children's products must meet the new 100 ppm total lead limit, but CPSIA's independent third-party testing requirements for total lead content will The implementation began on December 31, 2011 because a suspension of execution order had been issued and implemented.

However, the Suspension Execution Order does not apply to children's metal jewelry, so children's metal jewelry must currently undergo independent third-party testing.

In addition, the new 100 ppm total lead limit does not apply to inaccessible (internal) parts of children's products, as well as certain parts of children's electronic equipment, such as electronic connectors and plugs, including earphone plugs.

The lead content limit for children's products differs from the limits set by Congress for lead in paints or surface coatings. The limit of lead content in the paint or surface coating is 0.009%, which has been implemented since August 14, 2009, and all coatings or surface coatings for children's products are to be subjected to independent third-party testing.