[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 102 (Thursday, May 28, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29182-29183]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-14134]
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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
Notice of Availability of Guidance Document on Hazardous Liquid
Chemicals in Children's Products
AGENCY: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
ACTION: Notice of availability of guidance document on hazardous liquid
chemicals in children's products.
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Summary: The Commission announces that it has approved a statement that
provides guidance for manufacturers, importers, distributors, and
retailers of liquid-filled consumer products that may contain harmful
liquids. To protect children and other persons from the toxic effects
of exposure to these chemicals, the Commission recommends that
manufacturers of such products refrain from filling the products with
hazardous liquids. Further, the Commission recommends that, before
purchasing such products for resale, importers, distributors, and
retailers obtain assurances from manufacturers that liquid-filled
children's products do not contain hazardous liquid chemicals.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frank Krivda, Office of Compliance,
Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, D.C. 20207; telephone
(301) 504-0400, ext. 1372.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the guidance document is as
follows:
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, DC 20207
Guidance for Hazardous Liquid Chemicals in Children's Products
SUMMARY: The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issues this
guidance to manufacturers, importers, distributors, and retailers to
protect children from exposure to hazardous chemicals found in liquid-
filled children's products, such as rolling balls, bubble watches,
necklaces, pens, paperweights, keychains, liquid timers,
[[Page 29183]]
and mazes.1 The Commission identifies the major factors that
it considers when evaluating liquid-filled children's products that
contain hazardous chemicals, and informs the public of its experience
with exposure to these hazardous chemicals to children. To reduce the
risk of exposure to hazardous chemicals, such as mercury, ethylene
glycol, diethylene glycol, methanol, methylene chloride, petroleum
distillates, toluene, xylene, and related chemicals, the Commission
requests manufacturers to eliminate the use of such chemicals in
children's products. The Commission also recommends that, before
purchasing products for resale, importers, distributors, and retailers
obtain assurances from manufacturers that liquid-filled children's
products do not contain hazardous liquid chemicals.
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\1\ This guidance is not a rule. It is intended to highlight
certain obligations under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act.
Companies should read that Act and the accompanying regulations at
16 CFR Part 1500 for more detailed information.
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Hazard: During reasonably foreseeable handling or use of liquid-
filled children's products, hazardous chemicals may become accessible
to young children in a manner that places children at risk. Young
children are exposed to the chemicals from directly mouthing them or
from handling such objects and subsequent hand-to-mouth or hand-to-eye
activity. The specific type and frequency of behavior that a child
exposed to a product will exhibit depends on the age of the child and
the characteristics and pattern of use of the product. The adverse
health effects of these chemicals to children include chemical
poisoning from ingestion of the chemicals, pneumonia from aspiration of
the chemicals into the lungs, and skin and eye irritation from exposure
to the chemicals. The chemicals may also be combustible.
Guidance: Under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA), 15
U.S.C. 1261(f)(1), chemical products that are toxic or irritants and
that may cause substantial injury or illness under reasonably
foreseeable conditions of handling or use, including reasonably
foreseeable ingestion by children, are ``hazardous substances.'' A
product that is not intended for children, but that creates such a risk
of injury because it contains hazardous chemicals, requires
precautionary labeling under the Act. 15 U.S.C. 1261(p). A toy or other
article intended for use by children that contains an accessible and
harmful amount of a hazardous chemical is banned. 15 U.S.C.
1261(q)(1)(A). In evaluating the potential hazard associated with
children's products that contain hazardous chemicals, the Commission's
staff considers certain factors on a case-by-case basis, including: the
total amount of the hazardous chemical in a product, the accessibility
of the hazardous chemicals to children, the risk presented by that
accessibility, the age and foreseeable behavior of the children exposed
to the product, and the marketing, patterns of use, and life cycle of
the product.
The Commission staff has identified a number of liquid-filled
children's products, such as rolling balls, bubble watches, necklaces,
pens, paperweights, maze toys, liquid timers, and keychains, that
contain hazardous chemicals. In several of these cases, the staff
determined that these products violated the FHSA because they presented
a risk of chemical poisoning and/or chemical pneumonia from aspiration.
This determination resulted in recalls or in the replacement of those
products with substitutes, as well as in agreements with the
manufacturers to discontinue the use of hazardous chemicals in liquid-
filled children's products in future production. The Commission
believes that these hazardous substances pose a risk to young children
and, consequently, manufacturers should not have included them in the
product design or manufacturing process.
Therefore, the Commission considers the use of hazardous chemicals
in children's products such as those described above to be ill-advised
and encourages manufacturers to avoid using them in such products.
Further, the Commission recommends that, before, purchasing such
products for resale, importers, distributors, and retailers obtain
assurances from manufacturers that liquid-filled children's products do
not contain hazardous liquid chemicals.
Dated: May 21, 1998.
Sadye E. Dunn,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 98-14134 Filed 5-27-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P