Tag Archive for: Phthalates

CPSC Settles with NRDC Regarding the Restriction of Phthalates in Children’s Toys

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The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) have reached an agreement in principle for the federal agency to issue a rule banning five chemicals, known as phthalates, that may cause reproductive harm from their exposure in children’s products. Those five phthalates are: diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP), di-n-pentyl phthalate (DnPP), di-n-hexyl phthalate (DnHP), dicyclohexyl phthalate (DCHP); and diisononyl phthalate (DINP). While the CPSC reached a tentative agreement with the NRDC on the timetable for issuing a rule, the contents of the final rule will be made by a vote of the CPSC Commission.

Phthalates are a class of chemicals used to soften plastics and are commonly found in children’s toys. Three phthalates, di-(2-ethylhexly) phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), and benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), were banned from use in toys and other children’s products in concentrations above 0.1 percent in 2009 under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, and three more were banned on an interim basis based on the same concentration limit the same day. The 2009 interim banned substances include diisononyl phthalate (DINP), diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP), and di-n-octyl phthalate (DnOP).

The CPSC published a proposed rule in December 2014 and was supposed to issue a final order within 180 days to continue an interim ban on the five phthalates, DIBP, DnPP, DnHP, DCHP, and DINP, within children’s toys, however, the 180-day period stretched to 950 days as of last week.

The NRDC, along with the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform and the Breast Cancer Fund, filed a complaint in December of 2016 seeking injunctive and declaratory relief to force the CPSC to regulate the five phthalates in children’s products.

A consent decree is expected to be finalized within the month.

The case is Natural Resources Defense Council et al. v. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, case number 1:16-cv-09401, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

CPSC proposes new ban on phthalates in children's products.

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Regular readers know that in terms of domestic, national regulation, we usually focus on developments coming out of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In the U.S., the EPA is the principal federal agency that regulates chemicals in products, but it’s not the only one. Last month, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) approved for publication a proposed rule prohibiting the use in children’s toys and child care articles of certain phthalates, a type of plasticizer used in teethers, plastic toys, home furnishings, and cosmetics.

The rule expands the existing “permanent ban” on phthalates at levels greater than 0.1% in accessible plasticized components of toys and child care products. Diisononyl phthalate (DINP) is shifted from the “interim ban” list and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), and butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP) remain on the “permanent ban” list. The rule also adds to the “permanent ban list” the following: diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP), di-n-pentyl phthalate (DPENP), di-n-hexyl phthalate (DHEXP), and dicyclohexyl phthalate (DCHP) in concentrations greater than 0.1%. Two other phthalates, diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP) and di-n-octyl phthalate (DnOP), were removed from the “interim ban” list.

The Commission proposed the rule under § 108 the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), which requires promulgation of regulations in response to the Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel’s report and recommendations on the health effects of phthalates in children’s toys and child care articles. Under the CPSIA, a “child care article” is “a consumer product designed or intended by the manufacturer to facilitate sleep or the feeding of children age 3 and younger, or to help such children with sucking or teething.”

The Commission is accepting public comment on the proposed rule through March 16, 2015.