Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 102 /Thursday, May 28, 1998 / Notices 29183

1This 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.

and mazes.1 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.

Hazard: During reasonably

foreseeable handling or use of liquidfilled 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

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary

[Transmittal No. 98–40]

36(b)(1) Arms Sales Notification

AGENCY: Department of Defense, Defense

Security Assistance Agency.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Department of Defense is

publishing the unclassified text of a

section 36(b)(1) arms sales notification.

This is published to fulfill the

requirements of section 155 of Public

Law 104–164 dated 21 July 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ms. J. Hurd, DSAA/COMPT/RM, (703)

604–6575

The following is a copy of a letter to

the Speaker of the House of

Representatives, Transmittal 98–40,

with attached transmittal, policy

justification and sensitivity of

technology.

Dated: May 21, 1998.

L.M. Bynum,

Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison

Officer, Department of Defense.

BILLING CODE 5000–04–M
29184 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 102 /Thursday, May 28, 1998 / Notices
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 102 /Thursday, May 28, 1998 / Notices 29185
29186 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 102 /Thursday, May 28, 1998 / Notices
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 102 /Thursday, May 28, 1998 / Notices 29187

[FR Doc. 98–14012 Filed 5–27–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 5000–04–C

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

General Services Administration

National Aeronautics and Space

Administration

[OMB Control No. 9000–0020]

Proposed Collection; Comment

Request Entitled Qualification

Requirements

AGENCY: Department of Defense (DOD),

General Services Administration (GSA),

and National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA).

ACTION: Notice of request for comments

regarding an extension to an existing

OMB clearance (9000–0020).

SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44

U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Federal

Acquisition Regulation (FAR)

Secretariat will be submitting to the

Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) a request to review and approve

an extension of a currently approved

information collection requirement

concerning Qualification Requirements.

The clearance currently expires on

September 30, 1998.

COMMENTS: Comments may be submitted

on or before July 27, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ralph DeStefano, Federal Acquisition

Policy Division, GSA (202) 501–1758.

ADDRESSES: Send comments regarding

this burden estimate or any other aspect

of this collection of information,

including suggestions for reducing this

burden, to: FAR Desk Officer, OMB,

Room 10102, NEOB, Washington, DC

20503 and a copy to the General

Services Administration, FAR

Secretariat, 1800 F Street, NW, Room

4035, Washington, DC 20405.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Purpose

10 U.S.C. 2319 and 41 U.S.C. 253c

prescribe policies and procedures which

are to be followed by Federal agencies

before they may establish any

prequalification requirement with

which a prospective contractor must

comply before his offer will even be