Posts Tagged 'Carpet Adhesives'

The new Safer Consumer Products (SCP) regulations require the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to initially identify up to five proposed “Priority Products” or categories of products containing what DTSC regards as “Chemicals of Concern.”  By April 1, 2014, DTSC will publish a list of Priority Products selected because of their use of one or more of 164 “Priority Chemicals” listed on the “Initial Candidate Chemicals” list.  Scroll to the bottom of this post for the full list of the 164 Priority Chemicals.

There will be a public review and comment period following publication of the Priority Products list.  It has been widely speculated that nail polish, formaldehyde-based hair straighteners, carpet adhesives and furniture seating foam are among the possible Priority Products that may be identified first by DTSC.

Once a product is identified as a Priority Product, manufacturers or other responsible entities (including importers, assemblers and even retailers) will be required to notify DTSC that their product is a priority product.  The manufacturer or other responsible entity then has some unpleasant options:  It can remove the product from sale, reformulate to remove or replace the chemical of concern in the product, or perform a complex “Alternatives Analysis” to retain the chemical in the product.  The Alternatives Analysis report must be submitted to DTCS for evaluation to determine if there are adverse environmental or public health impacts associated with the product that can be remedied by regulatory responses.  The regulatory responses could require product warnings to consumers, restrictions on the use of the chemical during manufacture, place of sale restrictions, administrative controls, further research regarding alternative ingredients, end-of-life disposal requirements, or even a ban on sales of the product in California.

Manufacturers, retailers, importers and assemblers of consumer products for sale or distribution in California should diligently keep informed about developments in the DTSC’s “Candidate Chemicals” list (currently 1,060 chemicals),  as well as the development of the Priority Products list.  Manufacturers should also consider whether reformulation of their products to exclude the priority chemicals from the “Initial Candidate Chemicals” list is possible.  In addition, it is important that businesses establish clear agreements among manufacturers, importers, distributors, retailers and others in the supply chain specifying who will be responsible for complying with California’s tough new regulatory program, including responding to DTSC if a product is identified as a priority product.  Conkle, Kremer & Engel’s lawyers stay current on the latest developments, and guide the firm’s clients through the thicket of expanding regulatory issues affecting their businesses.

The 164 chemicals found on the “Initial Candidate Chemicals” list, from which the Priority Products will be identified by DTSC, are: