CPSC May Draft ANPR to Set Standard for Cadmium in Children's Jewelry

On September 6, 2011, the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) voted to grant a Petition filed by the Empire State Consumer Project, the Sierra Club, the Center for Environmental Health, and the Rochesterians Against the Misuse of Pesticides to set a standard for cadmium in children's jewelry and children's toy jewelry. The Petition requests that the Commission adopt regulations making children's jewelry and children's toy jewelry with cadmium in greater than trace amounts a banned hazardous substance under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act. The Commission's vote requires it to begin promulgating regulations if a voluntary ASTM standard has not been proposed within three months. If ASTM publishes a voluntary standard within the three-month time frame, the CPSC must review the standard and current compliance with it and make a decision on the Petition by June 2012.