CPSC Outlines Lead Ban Exemptions for Children’s Electronic Devices

(World Trade Interactive)

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a final rule concerning certain electronic devices for which it is not technologically feasible to meet the limits on lead content in children’s products.

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 provides that as of Aug. 14, 2009, products designed or intended primarily for children 12 and younger may not contain more than 300 ppm of lead. This limit will be further reduced to 100 ppm as of Aug. 14, 2011, unless the CPSC determines that it is not technologically feasible to meet this lower limit. The CPSIA further provides that these lead limits do not apply to component parts of a product that are not accessible to a child; i.e., parts that are not physically exposed by reason of a sealed covering or casing and do not become physically exposed through reasonably foreseeable use and abuse of the product, including swallowing, mouthing, breaking or other children’s activities, as well as the aging of the product. Paint, coatings or electroplating may not be considered to be a barrier that would render lead in the substrate to be inaccessible to a child. Read more here.