California ARB Prohibits Ingredients in Additional Products

By Chelsea Lane, regulatory specialist, Supply Chain team, UL Solutions 

The California Air Resources Board's (CARB) Consumer Products Regulation is also known as the Regulation for Reducing Emissions from Consumer Products. It sets VOC limits for numerous categories of consumer products and for certain regulated categories, and it also sets prohibitions or limits on toxic compounds and compounds with high Global Warming Potential (GWP) values. On Aug. 1, 2022 CARB added Table 94509(m)(1)(B) to the California Code of Regulations section on Standards for Consumer Products. 

Table 94509(m)(1)(B) is entitled "Product Categories in which the Use of Parachlorobenzotrifluoride, Methylene Chloride, Perchloroethylene, and Trichloroethylene is Prohibited" and contains three columns: product category, effective date, and sell-through date. The product categories include types of air fresheners, hair care products, personal fragrance products, and an aerosol insecticide. After the effective date specified in the table for each product category, "no person shall sell, supply, offer for sale, or manufacture for use in California any consumer product listed" in the table. Consumer products in the table that were manufactured before the specified effective date "may be sold, supplied, or offered for sale until the corresponding 'sell-through' date." The effective dates for some of the products begin as early as Jan. 1, 2023. 

The specific types of air fresheners include aerosol air fresheners that are manual, concentrated, and total release. Definitions of these categories are provided in the regulation. The hair care products include dry shampoo, hair finishing spray, hair shine, and temporary hair color. Please see the regulation for the full list of product categories.

Any person who sells or supplies a consumer product identified listed in this table, "must notify the purchaser of the product of the sell-through period dates, provided, however, that this notification must be given only if both of the following conditions are met:

(A) the product is sold or supplied to a distributor or retailer; and
(B) the product is sold or supplied within 6 months of the specified effective date." 

The requirements for these consumer products do not apply if the combined weight of parachlorobenzotrifluoride, methylene chloride, perchloroethylene, or trichloroethylene is present as an impurity and is equal to or less than 0.01%.

References

Final Regulation Order: Proposed Amendments to the California Consumer Products Regulation

Code of California Regulations Section 94509: Standards for Consumer Products