Congress established the CPSC to implement the goals of the CPSA. The CPSC is charged with four primary duties:
1. To maintain an injury information clearinghouse for the collection and distribution of data relating to the causes and prevention of death, injury, and illness associated with consumer products;
2. To conduct studies and investigations of injuries involving consumer products;
3. To develop safety standards addressing the risk of injury in consumer products;
4. To assist public and private organizations or groups in the development of product safety standards and test methods.
One of the CPSC’s most important functions is the development and promulgation of Consumer Product Safety Standards. Consumer Product Safety Standards are designed to reduce unreasonable risks of injury associated with consumer products and can be either enforced as performance requirements, i.e., specific chemical content restrictions, or as requirements that a consumer product be marked or accompanied by clear and adequate warnings or instructions, or both. However, if the CPSC determines that a consumer product is being, or will be, distributed in commerce, that the consumer product presents an unreasonable risk of injury, and that no feasible consumer product safety standard would adequately protect the public from an unreasonable risk of injury in such a case, the CPSC may promulgate a regulation declaring such a product to be a Banned Hazardous Product.
With the enactment of the CPSIA in 2008, the CPSC focused its attention on the stringent regulation of children’s products. This was accomplished through the passage of various Consumer Product Safety Standards, particularly with regards to lead and phthalate content restrictions.
Under the CPSA, “Children’s Products” are defined as consumer products designed or intended primarily for children 12 years of age, or younger. Factors to be considered when determining whether a particular product qualifies as a “Children’s Product” include: the manufacturer’s intended use of the product; the manner in which the product is represented by its packaging; whether the product is commonly recognized by consumers as being intended for use by children 12 years or younger; and a consideration of the Age Determination Guidelines issued by the CPSC in 2002. In 2010, the CPSC defined “Children’s Products” under the CPSIA.
Under the CPSIA, it is unlawful for any person to manufacture for sale, offer for sale, distribute into commerce, or import into the United States, any children’s toy or child care article containing concentrations of more than 0.1 percent of di-(2ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP), di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), or butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP). Additionally, the CPSA makes it unlawful for any person to manufacture for sale, offer for sale, distribute into commerce, or import into the United States, any children’s toy that can be placed in a child’s mouth or any child care article that contains concentrations of more than 0.1 percent of diisononyl phthalate (DINP), diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP), or di-n-octyl phthalate (DnOP).
In addition to the regulation of phthalates in children’s products, the CPSIA also enumerates acceptable lead levels for Children’s Products. The CPSIA bans lead in children’s products in concentrations greater than 100 parts per million (ppm). Additionally, the CPSIA prohibits lead in paint and surface coatings in children’s toys in concentrations greater than 90 ppm.
