Lead Regulations

Revised Stay of Enforcement for Total Lead Content Testing

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced on February 1, 2011 that they would revise the terms of its stay on enforcement on third-party testing and certification for total lead content in children’s products. The Commission voted to extend the stay on enforcement until December 31, 2011.  A children’s product is defined by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008, as products intended primarily for children 12 years of age and under.

The stay of enforcement will expire on December 31, 2011, at that time, manufacturers, importers, and distributors of children’s products will be required to comply with the lead limits and provide certification for testing. All testing must be performed by a CPSC accredited 3rd party laboratory. It is important to note that the lead limit will be lowered to 100 parts per million on August 14, 2011 for all substrate material. The CPSC will use this time during the stay to determine if this new proposed limit will be technologically feasible for products.

The stay on enforcement affects the category of children’s products.  However, manufacturers, importers, and retailers of children’s metal jewelry, and those with paints and coatings are still required to test to verify that the products they import, distribute, and sell are compliant for total lead content.  The stay on enforcement does not pertain to children’s metal jewelry. Currently the limit for lead content in children’s metal jewelry is 300 parts per million, and it is 90 parts per million total lead content for paints/coatings.

Please feel free to contact our lab for additional information regarding testing. Our laboratory is accredited by the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA), certificate number 1888.02.

Toy Industry Association, Inc. annual toy fair: www.toyassociation.org

PITTCON Conference & Expo: www.pittcon.org