NEWS

Final Rule 16 CFR 1252 was Issued

The Final Rule 16 CFR 1252 “Children’s Products, Children’s Toys, and Child Care Articles: Determinations Regarding Lead, ASTM F963 Elements, and Phthalates for Engineered Wood Products” was published by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in the Federal Register, expounding the CPSC-accepted third party testing exemption of the lead, ASTM F963 elements and phthalates requirements on the Engineered Wood Products, though the compliance with the limits is still mandatory. This rule will be effective from July 23, 2018.

Engineered Wood Products include:
— Particleboard
— Hardwood plywood, if it does not contain polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) adhesive formulations
— Medium-density fiberboard
if untreated and unfinished made from virgin wood or pre-consumer wood waste,

Untreated and unfinished are defined as follows:
— Unfinished means an EWP that does not have any surface treatments applied at manufacture, such as factory applied coatings. Examples of such treatments may include paint or similar surface coating materials, wood glue, or metal fasteners, such as nails or screws.
— Untreated means an EWP that does not have any additional finishes applied at manufacture. Examples of such finishes may include flame retardants or rot resistant finishes.
— Virgin wood describes wood logs, fibers, chips, or layers that have not been recycled from a previous use.
— Pre-consumer wood waste describes wood materials that have been recycled from an industrial process before being made available for consumer use. Examples of this type of waste include trimmings from engineered wood product panel manufacturing, sawdust from cutting logs, or remaining wood pieces from sawing a log into framing lumber.

For further details, please refer to the below link:

https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-06-22/pdf/2018-13392.pdf