SAFEGUARDS | Consumer Products NO. 106/16

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The New York State Assembly has recently passed ‘The Child Safe Products Act’ to regulate toxic chemicals in children’s products. The bill is now in the Senate and if eventually signed into law, the new Act will take effect 120 days after becoming law.

On 4 May, 2016, the New York State Assembly passed Assembly Bill 5612-A [1] to regulate hazardous chemicals in children’s products. The bill contains a number of important provisions that would have an impact on certain economic operators and on chemicals in children’s products. These include:

  • Creating an initial list of 83 chemicals of high concern (CHCs)

  • Creating an initial list of 10 priority chemicals (PCs, Table 2). Children’s products containing these chemicals would be banned from 2019.

  • Requiring the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to publish a list of CHCs and PCs.

  • Requiring the manufacturer of children’s products to report the presence of intentionally-added PCs

  • Requiring information on PCs in children’s products to be communicated along the supply chain

  • Providing an exemption to small manufacturers of children’s products with no more than 5 employees and are independently owned or operated

If this bill is eventually signed into law, New York will join Maine [2], Oregon [3], Washington [4] and Vermont [5] in requiring disclosure of toxic chemicals in children’s products.

Highlights of ‘The Child Safe Products Act’ as passed by the New York State Assembly are summarized in Table 1.

Table 1

Item Parameter Highlight
1
  • Chemicals of high concern (CHCs)
  • Priority chemicals (PCs)
  • Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to publish list of CHCs and PCs within 180 days after the effective date
  • These lists will be reviewed periodically
2 Discloser of PCs in children’s products
  • Manufacturers of such products containing intentionally added PCs are required to disclose certain information at practical quantification limits (PQLs) to the DEC within 12 months after the PC appears on the list
  • The product category for reporting is the ‘brick’ level of the GS1 global product classification (GPC) standard
3 Manufacturer or distributor of children’s products containing a PC To notify retailers on the presence of PCs in such products and its toxicity
4 Retailers of children’s products containing a PC To post notice to consumers identifying such products and their PCs.
5 Children’s products containing the initial list of 10 PCs Prohibited starting 1 January, 2019
6 Children’s products containing new PCs other than those in item 5 above Prohibited starting 3 years after PC has been listed
Effective date: 120 days after becoming law

Table 2: INITIAL LIST OF 10 PRIORITY CHEMICALS

Item Name CAS Item Name CAS
1 Arsenic* 7440-38-2 6 Cobalt* 7440-48-4
2 Antimony* 7440-36-0 7 Formaldehyde 50-00-0
3 Asbestos 1332-21-4 8 Lead* 7439-92-1
4 Benzene 71-43-2 9 Mercury* 7439-97-6
5 Cadmium 7440-43-9 10 Tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate 13674-87-8

Note

*Including their compounds

Throughout our global network of laboratories, we are able to provide a range of services, including analytical testing and consultancy for priority chemicals and other restricted substances in children’s products for the US and international markets. Please do not hesitate to contact us for further information.

For enquiries, please contact:

Hing Wo Tsang
Global Hardlines
t: +852 2774 7420

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