Outline of the partial revision of  “the Cabinet Order specifying 
the substances under Paragraph (2 ) of Article 2 of the Act on 
Control of Household Products Containing Harmful Substances”, 
and “the Ordinance for enforcem ent of the Act on Control of 
Household Products Containing Harmful Substances”  
 
 
The household products which contain ha rmful substances designated by Act 
on Control of Household Products Containing Harmful Substances (hereafter 
referred to as “the Act”) sh all not be marketed in Japa n if household products do 
not conform to the criteria (e.g., the stan dard value) stipulated by the Ordinance 
for Enforcement of the Act. 
Note: The scope of household in the Act is define d in the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Act on 
harmful substances by harmful substance basis. 
 
MHLW intends to designate azo compounds  as harmful substances in the Act 
and stipulate the scope of household products, the criteria and test method 
concerning azo compounds by amending (i) Cabinet Order specifying the 
substances under Paragraph (2) of Article  2 of the Act and (ii) Ordinance for 
enforcement of the Act. 
 
1. Outline of the partial revision of Ca binet Order specifying the substances under 
Paragraph (2) of Article 2 of the Act on Control of Household Products Containing 
Harmful Substances   
 
Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare (MHLW) designates azo compounds that may 
cause any of the following 24 aromatic amines as “harmful substances”. 
 
(1) 4-aminoazobenzene 
(2) 2-amino-4-nitrotoluene (3) 4-aminobiphenyl (4) 4,4’-oxydianiline (5) o-anisidine 
(6) o-aminoazotoluene 
(7) o-toluidine 
(8) 2,4- xylidine (9) 2,6-xylidine (10) 4-chloro- o-toluidine 
(11) 2,4-diaminoanisole (12) 4,4’-diaminodiphenylmethane (13) 3,3’-dichlorobenzidine 
(14) 3,3’-dimethyl-4,4’-diaminodiphenylmethane (15) 3,3’-dimethylbenzidine (16) 3,3’-dimethoxybenzidine (17) 4,4’-thiodianiline  (18) 2,4,5-Trimethylaniline (19) 2,4-toluylendiamine (20) 2-naphtylamine (21) p-cresidine 
(22) p-chloroaniline 
(23) benzidine (24) 4,4’-methylene-bis-(2-chloro-aniline) 
 2. Outline of the partial revision of Ordinan ce for enforcement of the Act on Control of 
Household Products Containing Harmful Substances 
 
(1) the scope of “household pr oducts containing the azo com pounds” that are subject to the 
regulation will be stipulated as follow; 
- The textile products with azo dyes: diapers,  diaper covers, underwear, sleepwears, gloves, 
socks, intermediate garments, outer garm ents, caps, hats, beddings, floor coverings, 
tablecloths, collar ornaments,  handkerchiefs, and towels, ba th mats and related products 
- The leather and/or fur products with azo dye s: underwear, gloves, intermediate garments, 
outer garments, caps, hats and floor coverings 
 
(2) The criteria and test methods for the household products containing the azo compounds 
will be stipulated as follow: 
 Any of the specified 24 aromatic amines must be less than 30 μg/g when tested with a gas 
chromatograph mass spectrometer. 
 
(3) the test method for the hou sehold products containing triphenyltin compounds and 
tributyltin compounds w ill be revised as follow:  
 The test method using a gas chromatograph ma ss spectrometer will be used  instead of  
flameless atomic absorption spectrometry and two-dimensional thin layer chromatography. 
 (4) The test method for the household products containing formaldehyde will be revised as 
follow. 
 In some operations, the test method for ace tic acid and aqueous solution of ammonium 
acetate will be used  instead of those using purified water. 
 3. Proposed date of adoption and Proposed date of entry into force 
 Proposed date of adoption: March 2015 (scheduled) 
Proposed date of entry into force: 1 April 2016 (scheduled)