Play It Safe
Play It Safe provides regular updates on key quality, safety and regulatory developments affecting the toy industry. Author Susan DeRagon is associate director of the Toy and Premium Division at Specialized Technology Resources (STR), the Enfield, Conn.-based CPSC-accredited testing laboratory.
Happy Anniversary, CPSIA!
On August 14, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act will reach the one-year anniversary of its enactment. There are several provisions that become effective on that date, and the CPSC has issued several updates this month in preparation. The Lead Content Limit decreases from 600 to 300 ppm as of August 14. Children’s product exceeding the 300 ppm limit cannot be sold after this date. We... Read More
Comments (0)China Product Safety Seminars
I’m writing this blog from Zhuhai, China where tomorrow I will be participating in the first of 3 product safety seminars sponsored by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. CCPIT, also known as the China Chamber of International Commerce, was established in 1952 and is considered the most important and largest institution for the promotion of foreign trade in China. Togethe... Read More
Comments (0)Europe also has significant changes in Toy Safety Regulations
While the US toy industry has been focusing on the numerous regulatory changes brought about by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), Europe has been busy with major changes to their own Toy Safety Directive (88/378/EEC), which had not been significantly updated for 20 years. Unfortunately, the European changes do not correlate with the US CPSIA changes. For companies that distri... Read More
Comments (2)BPA - The Next Regulated Chemical
BPA, or Bisphenol-A, has been in the news lately as another potentially hazardous chemical. While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to state that BPA is safe – as do government bodies in Europe, Canada, and Japan - consumer groups and legislators are working vigorously to ban the chemical, at least in certain applications. BPA is a chemical used to make polycarbonate plastic and... Read More
Comments (5)CPSIA Update - May
It’s been a busy month for CPSC, and it’s not even over yet! I’d like to take this opportunity to provide an update of May CPSIA activities to date. Section 101 - Stay of Enforcement of Lead Content Limits for Certain Youth Motorized Recreational Vehicles. Products covered under this stay are youth all-terrain vehicles, youth off-road motorcycles, and youth snowmobiles. The stay applies to ba... Read More
Comments (0)TIA's Toy Safety Certification Program
I’ll be in New York this week for the TIA’s Toy Safety Certification Program (TSCP) Work Group and Technical Committee meetings, as we work towards launching this program. For those not familiar with the TSCP, it – like the CPSIA – is a direct result of the extensive toy recalls throughout 2007. The TIA started work on this program in August 2007 - together with small and large toy manufacturers... Read More
Comments (0)CPSIA and The Labs
The CPSIA has placed additional burdens on toy manufacturers, by adding requirements such as lead content and phthalates and by mandating third party testing. One outcome of the CPSIA requirements is that quality assurance laboratories such as STR have seen a dramatic increase in their testing business. Some companies suspect that labs have helped push this legislation through as a way to increase... Read More
Comments (1)Composite testing and the CPSIA
Some relief in CPSIA testing has been provided by the latest CPSC test method, released yesterday, for determining lead content in paint and other similar surface coatings (http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/CPSC-CH-E1003-09.pdf). What is unique and exciting about the new test method is that, for the first time, CPSC is allowing for composite testing of multiple paint colors to determine compliance... Read More
Comments (3)Welcome to the Play It Safe blog
This is my first blog ever, and I’m excited by the opportunity. Two years ago, I wouldn’t have thought of doing this. What could I have said about toy safety then? At that point, I had been working in STR’s toy safety department since 1985 and CPSC toy safety regulations had been in place for literally decades. Most of the toy companies that STR worked with were also testing to the voluntary ASTM... Read More
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