Products and Materials Exempted from CPSIA Lead Limits:

Within Section 101 of the CPSIA, the commission is granted the power to exclude certain products or materials from the new lead limitations if there is scientific evidence indicating any lead existing in the product would not be absorbed into the human body under normal use or abuse, nor “have any other adverse impact on public health or safety.”  Accordingly, CPSC staff proposed that the items listed below ought to be exempt from the lead limitation rules because they either inherently do not contain lead at all or do so at levels below the CPSIA limits.

The commission was to vote on whether to publish the staff’s proposal as a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking earlier this month.  Once posted in the Federal Register, there will be a period during which the Commission will accept public comment.  I will post comment due dates on the product safety calendar and will append any changes to the proposal here as I learn of them.

Items Proposed for Lead-Ban Exemption:

• Precious metals: gold (10+K), sterling silver (925+/1000), platinum, palladium, rhodium, osmium, iridium, ruthenium
• Surgical steel
• Precious gemstones: diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald
• Certain semi-precious gemstones*
• Natural or cultured pearls
• Wood
• Natural fibers, including cotton, silk, wool, hemp, flax, and linen
• Other natural fibers including coral, amber, feathers, fur, and untreated leather

UPDATE 02/06/09:  Commission adds to list of items proposed for exemption:

• Regular books printed after 1985
• Dyed or undyed fabrics, provided that they have not undergone processes that may impart lead and they do not have added parts, such as decorations or fasteners that could contain lead.

UPDATE 02/09/09: Additional products listed in CPSC guidance for small businesses:

• Yarn, dyed or undyed
• Certain educational materials, such as chemistry sets

It is important to note that Staff also recommended that these exemptions should only “apply to a material that is untreated and unadulterated by the addition of materials or chemicals including pigments, dyes, coatings, finishes or any substance, and has not undergone any processing that could result  in lead content that exceeds the CPSIA lead limits.”

CPSC Staff Proposal:  http://www.cpsc.gov/library/foia/foia09/brief/leadlimits.pdf

Information about other Staff proposals regarding the lead limits can be found here.

More information on 02/06/09 exemption additions: http://cpsc.gov/library/foia/foia09/brief/101lead.pdf

More information on 02/09/09 exemption additions – listed in CPSC guidance document: http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/smbus/sbguide.pdf

*Semi-precious stones of minerals “based on” or “associated with” lead or lead-compounds are not included in the proposed exemption.  The CPSC lists ten minerals as examples.  What appears to be a fairly complete list of minerals containing lead can be found here: http://webmineral.com/chem/Chem-names-Pb.shtml.  Scroll down the page a bit until you come to “Mineral Species containing the element Pb (Lead ).”  Note:  The CPSC also says aragonite is among the non-exempt minerals, although it does not appear on the list linked here.

UPDATE:  01/15/2009:  The Commission accepted the staff’s proposal and printed proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register, p. 2433 on January 15, 2009.  Comments are requested by February 17, 2009.