Minnesota Introduces Bills for Hazardous Chemical Labeling and Reporting Information for Children’s Products

The State of Minnesota has introduced two bills regulating the labeling and reporting of hazardous chemicals in children’s products.

• HF 1553, requiring labeling of children's products containing hazardous chemicals, establishes the following: Beginning July 1, 2016, no children’s products for sale should contain a priority chemical unless it is labeled with the following statement:
• "WARNING: This product contains [NAME OF PRIORITY CHEMICAL], a chemical known or suspected with a high degree of probability by the Minnesota Department of Health to be potentially hazardous to human health."
• Beginning July 1, 2016 or 120 days after a chemical has been assigned as a priority chemical, a children’s product containing this chemical must be labeled with the following statement:HF 1533 has a companion bill in the Senate: SF 1656.
• HF 1276, regulating chemicals of high concern in children's products,details the reporting process for children’s products containing a priority chemical. The bill would require a manufacturer or distributor of a children’s product containing one or more priority chemicals to include the following information on a form developed by the agency no later than one year after the chemical is designated a priority chemical:
• "WARNING: This product contains [NAME OF PRIORITY CHEMICAL], a chemical known or suspected with a high degree of probability by the Minnesota Department of Health to be potentially hazardous to human health."
• The name of the priority chemical;
• The Chemical Abstracts Service Registry number of the priority chemical;
• The concentration of each priority chemical contained in a children's product, a description of how the concentration was determined, and an evaluation of the accuracy of the determination;
• The product category of the children's product;
• The number of units of the children's product sold in Minnesota, or nationally, in the most recently completed calendar year;
• Information that the agency determines is necessary to determine the extent to which a child is likely to be exposed to the priority chemical through normal use of the product;
• Any assessment conducted by the manufacturer or distributor of the children's product or others regarding the use of safer alternatives to the priority chemical contained in the children's product; and
• Any additional information requested by the agency