II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4298 

To provide that certain water beads products shall be considered banned 

hazardous products under section 8 of the Consumer Product Safety 

Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 9, 2024 

Ms. BALDWIN (for herself, Mr. CASEY, and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To provide that certain water beads products shall be considered banned hazardous products under section 8 of the 

Consumer Product Safety Act, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as ‘‘Esther’s Law’’. 

5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) ART MATERIAL OR ART MATERIAL PROD8 UCT.—The term ‘‘art material or art material prod9 uct’’ has the meaning given such term in section 


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1 23(b)(1) of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act 

2 (15 U.S.C. 1277(b)(1)) as applied to a child under 

3 14 years of age. 

4 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

5 means the Consumer Product Safety Commission. 

6 (3) EDUCATIONAL MATERIAL.—The term ‘‘edu7 cational material’’ means any substance or product, 

8 other than a toy, as defined in paragraph (5), that 

9 is designed, intended, or marketed by the producer 

10 or repackager as suitable to assist with the cognitive 

11 development of a child under 14 years of age. 

12 (4) SENSORY STIMULATION MATERIAL OR SEN13 SORY TOOL.—The term ‘‘sensory stimulation mate14 rial or sensory tool’’ means a consumer product, as 

15 defined in section 3(a)(5) of the Consumer Product 

16 Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2052(a)(5)), that stimulates 

17 the visual or tactile sense of a child under 14 years 

18 of age. 

19 (5) TOY.—The term ‘‘toy’’ has the meaning 

20 given such term in section 3.1.92 of ASTM F963– 

21 23 (Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Toy 

22 Safety), or any successor to such document. 

23 (6) WATER BEADS PRODUCT.—The term 

24 ‘‘water beads product’’ means a consumer product, 

25 whether accessible or not, that— 


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1 (A) is composed, in whole or in part, of 

2 water-absorbing super absorbent polymers, such 

3 as polyacrylamides and polyacrylates; and 

4 (B) at the point of sale to a consumer, 

5 contains at least 1 individual bead that can— 

6 (i) fit entirely within the cylinder de7 scribed in section 1501.4 of title 16, Code 

8 of Federal Regulations; and 

9 (ii) through water absorption, ex10 pand— 

11 (I) to a size of at least 3 millime12 ters (in 1 or more dimensions); or 

13 (II) by 50 percent or more in di14 ameter in any dimension from its as15 received state. 

16 SEC. 3. CERTAIN WATER BEADS PRODUCTS CONSIDERED 

17 BANNED HAZARDOUS PRODUCTS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—On and after the date that is 180 

19 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, a water 

20 beads product, without regard to the date of manufacture 

21 or importation, shall be considered a banned hazardous 

22 product under section 8 of the Consumer Product Safety 

23 Act (15 U.S.C. 2057). 

24 (b) WATER BEADS PRODUCT.—For purposes of sub25 section (a), the term ‘‘water beads product’’ (as defined 


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1 in section 2) refers to a product that is designed, intended, 

2 or marketed as— 

3 (1) a toy; 

4 (2) educational material; 

5 (3) art material or art material product; or 

6 (4) sensory stimulation material or sensory tool. 

7 SEC. 4. REGULATION OF WATER BEAD PRODUCTS NOT DE8 SIGNED, INTENDED, OR MARKETED AS TOYS, 

9 EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS, ART MATERIALS, 

10 OR SENSORY TOOLS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 24 months after 

12 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission 

13 shall, in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United 

14 States Code, promulgate a final consumer product safety 

15 standard for water beads products that are not banned 

16 under section 3 that— 

17 (1) may contain requirements on the colors of 

18 such water beads products, so as to deter use by 

19 children; and 

20 (2) shall contain warning label requirements— 

21 (A) to be included, as practicable, on the 

22 packaging of such products; 

23 (B) to be included on any literature dis24 tributed with the product, in print or in an on25 line format; and 


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1 (C) that shall contain language describing 

2 the risk of injury and death if used by children 

3 or around children, including— 

4 (i) the hazard of ingestion, orally or 

5 otherwise; 

6 (ii) the need for the consumer to keep 

7 the product out of an environment that 

8 contains children; and 

9 (iii) instructions for the consumer to 

10 seek medical care and advice should the 

11 consumer suspect ingestion by a child. 

12 (b) FUTURE RULEMAKING.—At any time after the 

13 promulgation of a final consumer product safety standard 

14 under subsection (a), the Commission may initiate rule15 making in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United 

16 States Code, to modify the requirements of the standard 

17 or any revised standard. Any rule promulgated under this 

18 subsection shall be treated as a consumer product safety 

19 rule promulgated under section 9 of the Consumer Prod20 uct Safety Act ( 15 U.S.C. 2058). 

21 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec22 tion shall be construed as applying to water beads that 

23 are used commercially in diapers, personal care products, 


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1 sanitary products, or agricultural supplies, including fer2 tilizers and agricultural soil conditioners. 

Æ 


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