[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 83 (Tuesday, April 30, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25256-25257]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-10093]
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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
[CPSC Docket Number: CPSC-2013-0016]
Petition Requesting Exception From Lead Content Limits: BIC USA
Inc.
AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission or CPSC)
has received a petition requesting an exception from the 100 ppm lead
content limit under section 101(b) of the Consumer Product Safety
Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA), as amended by Public Law 112-28 from
BIC USA Inc. (BIC). We invite written comments concerning the petition.
DATE: Submit comments by May 30, 2013.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC-2013-
0016, by any of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit electronic comments to the Federal
eRulemaking Portal at: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments. The Commission does not accept
comments submitted by electronic mail (email), except through
www.regulations.gov. The Commission encourages you to submit electronic
comments by using the Federal eRulemaking Portal, as described above.
Written Submissions: Submit written submissions in the following
way: Mail/Hand delivery/Courier (for paper, disk, or CD-ROM
submissions), preferably in five copies, to: Office of the Secretary,
Consumer Product Safety Commission, Room 820, 4330 East West Highway,
Bethesda, MD 20814; telephone (301) 504-7923.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name
and docket number for this notice. All comments received may be posted
without change, including any personal identifiers, contact
information, or other personal information provided, to: http://www.regulations.gov. Do not submit confidential business information,
trade secret information, or other sensitive or protected information
that you do not want to be available to the public. If furnished at
all, such information should be submitted in writing.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, go to: http://www.regulations.gov, and insert the
docket number, CPSC-2013-0016, into the ``Search'' box, and follow the
prompts.
[[Page 25257]]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kristina Hatlelid, Ph.D., M.P.H.,
Directorate for Health Sciences, Consumer Product Safety Commission, 5
Research Pl, Rockville, MD 20850; email: [email protected]; telephone:
301-987-2558.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under section 101(a) of the CPSIA, consumer
products designed or intended primarily for children 12 years old and
younger that contain lead content in excess of 100 ppm are considered
to be banned hazardous substances under the Federal Hazardous
Substances Act (FHSA).
Section 101(b)(1) of the CPSIA provides for a functional purpose
exception from lead content limits under certain circumstances. The
exception allows the CPSC, on the Commission's own initiative, or upon
petition by an interested party, to exclude a specific product, class
of product, material, or component part from the lead limits
established for children's products under the CPSIA if, after notice
and a hearing, the Commission determines that: (i) The product, class
of product, material, or component part requires the inclusion of lead
because it is not practicable or not technologically feasible to
manufacture such product, class of product, material, or component
part, as the case may be, in accordance with section 101(a) of the
CPSIA by removing the excessive lead or by making the lead
inaccessible; (ii) the product, class of product, material, or
component part is not likely to be placed in the mouth or ingested,
taking into account normal and reasonably foreseeable use and abuse of
such product, class of product, material, or component part by a child;
and (iii) an exception for the product, class of product, material, or
component part will have no measurable adverse effect on public health
or safety, taking into account normal and reasonably foreseeable use
and abuse.
Under section 101(b)(1)(B) of the CPSIA, there is no measurable
adverse effect on public health or safety if the exception will result
in no measurable increase in blood lead levels of a child. In November
2012, CPSC staff issued a report, which found that, for the purposes of
evaluating children's products for an exception from the CPSIA lead
limit, a product will have no measurable adverse effect on public
health or safety if a potential exposure to lead from the product is
estimated to result in an increase in a child's blood lead level of
less than 0.8 [micro]g/dL. The level of exposure that would be
associated with such an increase is approximately 2.2 [micro]g per day.
That report may be viewed at: http://www.cpsc.gov/PageFiles/133902/lead101.pdf.
Given the highly technical nature of the information required for
an exception, including data on the lead content of the product and
test methods used to obtain those data, the Commission finds that
notice of the petition and solicitation for written comments would
provide the most efficient process for providing an adequate
opportunity for all interested parties to participate in the
proceeding. However, the Commission may hold a public hearing or public
meeting if the Commission deems a public hearing or public meeting
appropriate and necessary to determine whether the petition for a
functional purpose exception should be granted.
On March 25, 2013, BIC submitted a petition requesting an exception
from the lead content limit of 100 ppm under section 101(b) of the
CPSIA for a new line of writing instrument products aimed at children
age 5 and up (BIC Children's Pen) to address the needs of young
children who are in the early stages of learning to write. BIC
specifically requests the functional purpose exemption for the point
component of the BIC Children's Pen. The accessible portion of the
nickel silver points assembly that BIC proposes to use in its BIC
Children's Pen contains total lead of approximately 8720 ppm (point and
point support subassembly). According to BIC, all of the other
accessible components of the BIC Children's Pen contain total lead
below 100 ppm.
BIC contends that removing or making excess lead inaccessible in
manufacturing the BIC Children's Pen is neither practicable nor
technologically feasible. BIC states that if BIC were to change the
metal alloy to reduce the lead content to below 100 ppm, millions of
dollars in high-speed manufacturing equipment would require retooling
and use of cutting oil to produce the points, requiring significant
resources and capital. In addition, BIC asserts that adjusting
manufacturing processes in this way would result in lower point
manufacturing productivity and a reduction in machine speeds and
machine cycling.
BIC further states that the only metal alloy available for pen
points that contain lead below 100 ppm is stainless steel. However, BIC
does not produce stainless steel points in any of its factories.
According to BIC, stainless steel points are more commonly used with
water-based inks typically found in roller ball pens and gel ink pens.
The BIC Children's Pen will not contain a water-based ink; rather, the
pen will contain a solvent-based ink that is used in BIC's ballpoint
pens.
BIC also contends that the BIC Children's Pen point is not likely
to be placed in the mouth or ingested. According to BIC, the BIC
Children's Pen is designed without a cap, clip, or pen body that can be
opened. In addition, the point is securely adhered to the ink
cartridge, and therefore, the point is not easily detachable, and the
point is retractable. BIC states that the frequency of mouthing of
objects by children who are intended to use the BIC Children's Pen is
relatively low for the user age group (ages 5-12), and because the pen
point is sharp, children will not mouth the pen point end of the
product.
Finally, BIC asserts that granting an exception will have no
measurable adverse effect on public health or safety, taking into
account normal and foreseeable use and abuse because the potential
exposure to the pen point would have no measurable increase in blood
lead levels of a child. According to BIC, a child's fingers would not
likely be in contact with the pen point during normal use conditions,
and the point would be extremely difficult to grip. In addition, BIC
states that a wipe test of the pen point shows that even in a worst
case analysis (assuming purposeful dermal contact), the potential
exposure to lead would be 0.31 [micro]g/day, which is far less than the
CPSC staff recommendation that 2.2 [micro]g/day can be used in a
determination of a ``measurable increase'' in blood lead levels of a
child.
Through this notice, we invite written comments on the petition.
Interested parties may view a copy of the petition under supporting and
related materials identified by Docket No. CPSC-2013-0016, through
http://www.regulations.gov. Interested parties also may obtain a copy
of the petition by writing or calling the Office of the Secretary,
Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East West Highway, Room 820,
Bethesda, MD 20184; email: [email protected], telephone 301-504-7923.
Dated: April 25, 2013.
Todd A. Stevenson,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2013-10093 Filed 4-29-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P