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Under the Federal Hazardous
Substances Act (FHSA), 15 U.S.C. §1261(f)(1), household products that expose
children to hazardous quantities of lead under reasonably foreseeable
conditions of handling or use are "hazardous substances." A household
product that is not intended for children but which creates such a risk of
injury because it contains lead requires precautionary labeling under the Act.
15 U.S.C. §1261(p). A toy or other article intended for use by children which
contains a hazardous amount of lead that is accessible for children to ingest
is a banned hazardous substance. 15 U.S.C. §1261(q)(1)(B).
Paint and similar surface
coatings containing lead have historically been the most commonly-recognized
sources of lead and lead poisoning. The US Consumer Product Safety Commision (CPSC) has, by
regulation (16 CFR1303), banned (1) paint and other similar surface coatings
that contain more than 0.06% lead ("lead-containing paint"), (2) toys
and other articles intended for use by children that bear lead-containing
paint, and (3) furniture articles for consumer use that bear lead-containing
paint. In recent years, however, a number of disparate products, some intended
for use by children and others simply used in or around the household or in
recreation, have presented a risk of lead poisoning from sources other than
paint. These products included vinyl mini blinds, crayons, figurines used as
game pieces, and children's jewelry.
In
these cases the source of the lead was varied. With vinyl blinds, principally from
manufacturers in China and other Asian manufacturers, the problem was anchored in the issue of quality.
Manufacturing firms in those countries
elected to use lead as an inexpensive
stabilizer for the vinyl rather
than better
and safer stabilizing agents that are available at a slightly higher cost. With
crayons the source was lead containing colorants and pigments which were less
expensive to use than better and safer organic pigments and coloring agents available
at a slightly higher cost |
