The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) was enacted to strengthen the safety of children's products by establishing critical safety and traceability requirements. This regulation specifies limit values for lead and phthalates in children's products. It also recognizes the ASTM F963-16 Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Toy Safety, developed by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), as a mandatory toy safety standard. This law mandates testing by accredited third-party laboratories.
This standard deals with potential hazards that are not readily apparent to the public and that may be encountered in normal use for which a toy is intended or after reasonably foreseeable abuse. It does not purport to cover every potential hazard of a particular toy. This standard does not cover product performance or quality, except as it relates to safety.
This standard specifies requirements and includes test methods for toys intended for use by children under 14 years of age. There are different age limits for the various requirements in this standard. These limits reflect the nature of the hazards and the expected mental or physical ability, or both, of a child to cope with the hazards.
According to CPSIA compliance regulations and requirements, certain toys and games designed for children’s use must have a warning label on their packaging, for example, regarding choking hazards. The law also requires advertisements for these products to include an appropriate warning statement.
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) requires importers and manufacturers of children’s products, such as toys, cribs, and pacifiers, to comply with applicable documentation, labeling, and testing requirements. The act protects children from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from thousands of types of consumer products in its jurisdiction, including products that pose fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazards or that may harm children.
In general terms, product risk assessment is the systematic use of available information to:
Regulatory bodies use product risk assessment to determine which products require regulatory action to reduce or manage risk to users.
Elements of product risk assessment performed by regulatory bodies that primarily address product safety issues include:
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) specifically targets control of lead and phthalates in toys. Lead and lead compounds are found in a wide range of consumer products, including paints and coatings, toys, bags, belts, shoes, jewelry, and accessories. Phthalates are chemical compounds used primarily as plasticizers in polyvinylchloride (PVC) and polyurethane (PU) products, and there are several different types of phthalates. The CPSIA places significant restrictions on toys, particularly with respect to lead and phthalates. The act defines a children’s product as a consumer product designed or intended primarily for children 12 years of age or younger.
In short, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) established testing requirements and acceptable levels for a variety of substances commonly used in many consumer products, particularly those intended for children ages 0 to 12.
CPSIA regulations primarily require that:
Among the numerous testing, measurement, analysis and evaluation studies our organization has provided for businesses in various sectors, it also provides testing services defined in the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) with its trained and expert staff and advanced technological equipment.
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