CPSIA-Accepted Lab Assurance Against Dangerous Lead Levels
Since the passage of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Council (CPSC), the body overseeing the majority of product regulation developments and enforcement, has continued to tighten restrictions on lead limits, particularly in Children’s Products.
Before the end of 2011, CPSIA lead threshold limits in children’s products had tightened to 300 ppm in concentration. However, the law, along with subsequent commission votes, had upheld a “stay of enforcement” on Third-Party Testing as a way to give manufacturers enough time to feasibly update their production methods and testing programs.
On August 31, 2011, the threshold dropped again to 100 ppm and, by the beginning of 2012, all manufacturers and importers were required to seek CPSC-accredited laboratory testing for lead limits to accompany their Children’s Product Certificate (CPC).
Expect Stronger Measures Against the Presence of Lead
In the face of the increasing body of data connecting early-age lead exposure to lifelong health effects and development disorders, stronger enforcement against illegal lead limits will continue. Research continues to suggest that there simply isn’t a safe level of lead exposure for the human body.
A recent Harvard School of Health study, which focused on children and “low level” lead exposure, concluded: “We have not yet reached the point where it is possible to cite a blood lead level that is ‘safe’, and even the current ‘low’ levels of exposure in children are associated with neurodevelopmental deficits.”
Without complete assurance that your product is being manufactured to the strictest standards against lead contamination, your company runs the risk of unknowingly bringing a dangerous product into a child’s playtime.
The Importance of CPSC-Accepted Laboratories
As a manufacturing or importing company, your best defense against the enabling of merchandise with high lead content is consistent, accurate testing by laboratories which are held to their own uncompromising standards of competence, expertise and management.
To be accepted by the CPSC, Third Party laboratories must conform to the international standard ISO/IEC 17025:2005‐‐General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories.
The objective of ISO/IEC 17025:2005 is to promote confidence in laboratory testing standards around the world. To comply with this standard, testing labs must be able to demonstrate:
- Operational competence
- The ability to consistently deliver valid test results
- Impartiality -- as it is critical that a laboratory is not motivated by any interests other than the assured safety of the product
Complete Assurance Testing
QIMA's comprehensive Lab Testing and Inspection Service checks all of the above boxes and more, by taking a client-first approach that ensures your manufacturing expectations are being met. QIMA labs bring CPSIA standards to Lead testing in surface coatings, children’s products (metal and non-metal substrates) and children’s metal jewelry.
Along with the additional layer of safety assurance that comes with our CPSIA-accredited laboratories, we offer worldwide lab coverage through our network of prefered partners and industry-leading turnaround times for test results.
Finally, our expert product inspectors follow all factory-line sampling procedures to ensure that our lab results are authentic representations of your product as a whole.
Find out how QIMA can put expertise, consistency and integrity to work for you!
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