The proposed rule would establish a new regulation on the use of specified phthalates in children’s toys and child care articles. Section 108(a) of the CPSIA permanently prohibited the manufacture for sale, offer for sale, distribution in commerce, or importation into the United States of any “children's toy or child care article” that contains concentrations of more than 0.1 percent of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), or butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP).
The proposed rule would expand the list of permanently banned phthalates for any “children's toy or child care article” to include any of the following phthalates containing concentrations of more than 0.1 percent, computed individually: diisononyl phthalate (DINP), diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP), di-n-pentyl phthalate (DPENP), di-n-hexyl phthalate (DHEXP), and dicyclohexyl phthalate (DCHP).
Section 108 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA), required the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission or CPSC) to convene a Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel (CHAP) to study the effects on children's health of all phthalates and phthalate alternatives as used in children's toys and child care articles and to provide recommendations to the Commission regarding whether any phthalates or phthalate alternatives other than those already permanently prohibited should be prohibited. The CPSIA required the Commission to promulgate a final rule after receiving the final CHAP report. The Commission is proposing this rule pursuant to section 108(b) of the CPSIA.
