CPSA

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) last month introduced a bill to amend the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) to include a ban on certain flame retardant chemicals from use in children’s furniture products.  The bill is H.R. 2934, also known as the “Decrease Unsafe Toxins Act.”

Flame retardants have been associated with cancer, endocrine disruption, developmental impairment, birth defects, and other health problems.  According to Congress’ findings, children in the U.S. have some of the highest levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in their bodies globally, and some toddlers even have three times the blood levels of their mothers of the toxic flame retardants pentaBDE.  “Studies show that there is no measurable fire safety benefit to California’s Furniture Flammability Standard Technical Bulletin (TB117),” the findings continue, and since children’s furniture contains small amounts of resilient filling material compared to their adult counterparts, they do not present a significant fuel source or fire hazard.

The bill proposes that any children’s cushioned product that contains more than 1,000 parts per million flame retardant chemical by weight in the filling shall be treated as a banned hazardous substance under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act.  “Children’s cushioned products” shall be defined as a children’s product that contains resilient filling materials, such as high chairs, strollers, changing pads, bassinets, infant mattresses, etc. and that “flame retardant chemical” shall be defined as an organohalogen or organophosphorous compound.  That includes common chemical flame retardants such as PBDE, decaBDE, and TDCPP.

The Chanler Group represents citizen enforcers who, acting in the public interest, commence actions against businesses offering products for sale in California that contain chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive harm without first providing the health hazard warning required by Proposition 65. Citizen enforcers bringing Proposition 65 actions in the public interest may obtain a Court Judgment imposing civil penalties, an injunction requiring reformulation of products, and/or provision of health hazard warnings. The Chanler Group has represented citizen enforcers of Proposition 65 for more than twenty years.

Far East Brokers has issued a recall on Leisure Ways Brands Kids Outdoor Furniture, specifically its line of ladybug-themed outdoor furniture, which includes a camp chair, a folding chair, a moon chair, a swing chair, and a patio set.  The red surface paint on the furniture contains excessive levels of lead, in violation of the federal lead paint standard.  The tracking label sewn into the seat of each chair includes the production date December/2012 and the words “Distributed by: Far East Brokers and Consultants, Inc.”

Consumers are advised to take the furniture away from children and return them to the place of purchase for a full refund.  The products were sold at Weis Markets, wholesale distributors, grocery, and drug stores nationwide from January 2013 to May 2013 for between $10 and $50, depending on the item.  The products were manufactured in China.

The Chanler Group, on behalf of citizen enforcers and other whistleblower clients, seeks to uncover toxic chemical exposures and government fraud in our everyday lives, to hold the offenders responsible for such violations of state and federal law, such as the CPSIA, accountable to the public, and to effectuate change for a cleaner environment.

California officials have expressed concerns over some provisions of the proposed Chemical Safety Improvement Act (CSIA), which was introduced last month in Congress as a series of reforms to the Toxic Substances Control Act.  A representative of California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) stated these concerns in a letter to the Office of California Senator Dianne Feinstein.

The main area of concern, according to the letter, is the expanded authority that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would have to preempt state and local chemical regulations.

If passed, CSIA would  prohibit states from enforcing existing chemical regulations after EPA issues their safety determination, even when state regulations are consistent with EPA’s findings.  The CSIA would also preclude states from issuing new prohibitions or restrictions on chemical substances that the EPA’s schedule of safety assessments identifies as “high priority.” 

“States should be allowed to…enforce their regulations until the Administrator for US EPA promulgates a rule establishing necessary restrictions,” the letter stated.  “States should not be barred from imposing regulations on chemical substances for which they have already evaluated the safety and determined that prohibitions or restrictions are necessary to protect public health or environment merely because the Administrator has released a schedule…”

The letter also stated a need for clarification “regarding what constitutes a ‘prohibition or restriction on the manufacture, processing, or distribution in commerce or use of a chemical substance’” as types of state actions intended to be preempted under the proposed Act.  California’s health hazard warning requirement on products containing chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer or reproductive harm “could be considered a restriction on the use of a chemical substance, which is far too broad an interpretation of this phrase,” the letter said.

The Act does contain criteria for waivers from the preemption provisions; DTSC expressed concern that “the bar has been set too high” for waivers.  The letter called the criteria “nearly impossible to meet.”

See below for the letter in full.

The Chanler Group represents citizen enforcers who, acting in the public interest, commence actions against businesses offering products for sale in California that contain chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive harm without first providing the health hazard warning required by Proposition 65. Citizen enforcers bringing Proposition 65 actions in the public interest may obtain a Court Judgment imposing civil penalties, an injunction requiring reformulation of products, and/or provision of health hazard warnings. The Chanler Group has represented citizen enforcers of Proposition 65 for more than twenty years.

Five individuals and five corporations were charged in an indictment unsealed last month in Brooklyn, N.Y. , for allegedly importing and trafficking hazardous and counterfeit toys for sale in the United States, in violation of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), the Department of Justice announced.

For almost ten years, Chenglan Hu, Hua Fei Zhang, Xiu Lan Zhang, Guan Jun Zhang, and Jun Wu Zhang, along with their companies Family Product USA Inc., H.M. Import USA Corp., ZCY Trading Corp., Zone Import Corp., and ZY Wholesale Inc., allegedly imported and sold toys that contained excessive levels of lead and/or phthalates, easily accessible battery compartments, and other hazards.  They also allegedly imported and sold counterfeit toys featuring Dora the Explorer, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Disney/Pixar movies such as “Toy Story” and “Cars.”

The case will be tried in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

The CPSIA was passed in 2008 to modernize the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and establish more stringent consumer product safety standards and safety requirements, with a particular focus on children’s products.  Under the CPSIA, it is illegal for any person or company to manufacture, sell, distribute, or import into the United States any children’s toy or child care product containing more than .1% of the phthalates DEHP, DBP, BBP, DINP, DIDP, or DnOP or lead concentrations greater than 90 ppm in paint and surface coatings.

The Chanler Group, on behalf of citizen enforcers and other whistleblower clients, seeks to uncover toxic chemical exposures and government fraud in our everyday lives, to hold the offenders responsible for such violations of state and federal law, such as the CPSIA, accountable to the public, and to effectuate change for a cleaner environment.

Three fleece hoodie and t-shirt sets have been recalled by manufacturer Children’s Apparel Network for containing excessive levels of lead in the coating on their zipper pulls, in violation of the federal lead paint standard.  The hoodies came in three designs: a Snow White design, a Mickey Mouse design, and a Cars design.  They were sold exclusively at Target Stores between October and December 2011.  Consumers are advised to return the hoodies to any Target Store for a full refund.

In the event that a manufacturer, distributor, or retailer discovers that a product contains a defect that poses a substantial hazard to consumers, it is required to immediately inform the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.  In this case, Children’s Apparel Network did so and issued a recall.

Learn more about the Consumer Products Safety Act of 1972 and The Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA).