CPSC Staff Recommends "No" Vote on Request to Exclude Youth ATV Parts from CPSIA Lead Content Limits (Despite Inaccessibility to Younger Children)

(The CPSIA allows CPSC to grant exclusions for materials or products that exceed the CPSIA lead content limits for children's products but which will not result in the absorption of lead into the human body or have any other adverse impact on public health or safety.)

Staff Acknowledges ATV Parts Rarely Accessible to Younger Children

Attached to the request is a CPSC staff recommendation to deny the exclusion, despite the fact that CPSC staff have previously pointed to ATVs as an example of the CPSIA's overly broad reach to products that would rarely be accessible to younger children under any circumstances. (See ITT's Online Archives or 03/25/09 news, 09032505, for BP summary of CPSC letter to Congressman Dingell answering questions and raising staff concerns about the CPSIA.)

CPSIA Standard for Granting Exclusions Not Met

As the CPSIA establishes the standard by which CPSC staff must evaluate a request for exclusions, and the ATV request has not met this standard, CPSC staff's recommendation is to not grant the request to exclude youth ATV components from the CPSIA lead content limits.

Staff Decision Would Have Been Different If Regulated Under FHSA

CPSC staff note that if they were evaluating the issue under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA, which was used prior to CPSIA's enactment for CPSC assessments of lead-containing children's products), given the assessment provided by the requestors, they would not have recommended that the Commissioners consider the ATV components a "hazardous substance" to be regulated under the FHSA.

ATV Groups Request that Battery Terminals, Other ATV Components be Excluded

The request was made by three groups of motorized recreational vehicle firms and associations who asked that CPSC grant a CPSIA lead content exclusion for ATV battery terminals containing up to 100% lead and components made with metal alloys, including steel containing up to 35% lead, aluminum with up to 0.4% lead, and copper with up to 4% lead.³

Based on estimates, the groups indicate that children's use of ATVs could result in exposure of lead of 0.015-0.05 micrograms of lead per day. However the groups conclude that for most parts of a motorized ATV, even accessible parts, contact by children is infrequent and the level of lead intake from ATVs would be well below background intake of lead from food and water.

Report is Based on Estimates, Does Not Meet "No Absorption" Standard, Etc.

According to CPSC staff, the report is not based on actual measurements or analysis of ATV component parts. Instead, the authors relied on data concerning metal jewelry and plumbing fixtures - materials that may or may not be sufficiently similar to ATV components to serve as a reasonable basis for the evaluation.

Further, some of the data could be inappropriate for the analysis. For example, the group relied in part on sampling of electroplated jewelry, but the CPSIA specifically states that paint, coatings, or electroplating may not be considered to be a barrier that would render lead in the substrate inaccessible to a child.

Finally, CPSC staff state that under the CPSIA, there can be no absorption of lead into the human body if an exclusion is to be granted, but the report indicates that children's use of ATVs could result in exposure of lead, however small the absorbed amount.

¹Effective February 10, 2009, consumer products designed or intended primarily for children 12 and under that have more than 600 ppm of total lead content by weight in any accessible part are considered banned hazardous substances. This is followed by decreases in the allowable limit to 300 ppm on August 14, 2009 and if feasible, to 100 ppm on August 14, 2011. (Paint, coatings or electroplating may not be considered a barrier that would make the lead content of a product inaccessible to a child.) CPSC has determined that the lead content limits apply not only to products manufactured after the effective dates, but also to products manufactured earlier that are sold from inventory or on store shelves after the effective dates.

²Enacted as Public Law 110-314 on August 14, 2008.

³Specified components include: tire valve stems; fittings and connectors made with copper (and brass) alloys; brake and clutch levers and other brake components; throttle controls; engine housings and carburetors made with aluminum alloys; fasteners, frames, and structural or engine components made with steel alloys; etc.

(See ITT's Online Archives or 03/11/09 news, 09031115, for BP summary of CPSC final rule on procedures for requesting CPSIA lead content determinations and exclusions.

See ITT's Online Archives or 02/10/09 news, 09021005, for details of CPSC's enforcement policy that went into effect February 10, 2009 for CPSIA lead content.

See ITT's Online Archives or 02/06/09 news, 09020610, for BP summary of CPSC's one year stay (until February 10, 2010) of most CPSIA testing and certification requirements (but not underlying compliance), including for lead content.

See ITT's Online Archives or 11/14/08 news, 08111410 and 08111415, for BP summaries of CPSC's public meeting and FAQ/timeline on lead content.

See ITT's Online Archives or 11/24/08 news, 08112405, for BP summary of CPSC's reiterated advisory opinion that children's products above the CPSIA lead content limit cannot be sold from inventory or on store shelves after February 10, 2009.

See ITT's Online Archives or 08/27/08 news, 08082705, for BP summary of the CPSIA lead content provisions.)

ATV request available at http://www.cpsc.gov/library/foia/foia09/brief/atvexclusion.pdf

CPSC Website on the CPSIA available at http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html