[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.<SUP>1</SUP> 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