The US state of New York has amended its law on labeling requirements for lead in children’s jewelry. The warning statement provisions will become effective on January 1, 2021.
In December 2019, New York State (NYS) enacted the Lead-Containing Jewelry Law (A6041/S4046) to require, among other things, a warning statement for children’s jewelry containing more than 40 ppm (0.004%) lead content but less than 600 ppm or a lower standard that may be established by federal or state law. The warning statement does not apply to inaccessible component parts or if component parts are exempt from third-party testing as determined by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (US CPSC). That piece of legislation will become effective on January 1, 2021 (SafeGuardS 1/20).
In April 2020, the NYS governor signed into law A8978 to amend the Lead-Containing Jewelry Law. The amendment contains several changes:
- Revising the threshold of ‘less than 600 ppm lead content’ to ‘less than 100 ppm lead content’ as part of the criteria for a warning statement
- Revising the language for the warning statement
- Deleting requirements for assessment of penalties by the Commissioner
According to A8978, the effective date for warning statement requirements remains unchanged - January 1, 2021.
Highlights of the Lead-Containing Jewelry Law by incorporating A8978 are summarized in Table 1.
| New York State Environmental Conservation Law Section 37-0115 ‘Lead-Containing Jewelry’ (incorporating A8978, 2020) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Substance | Scope | Requirement | Effective Date |
| Lead Content | Jewelry* for children under 12 years of age (accessible components) | Paints or similar surface coatings: ≤ 40 ppm otherwise warning statement if exceeds 40 ppm but less than or equal to 90 ppm** ≤ 40 ppm otherwise warning statement if exceeds 40 ppm but less than 100 ppm** | January 1, 2021 |
*Jewelry means the following ornaments worn by a person:
**Warning statement to contain at least ‘WARNING: CONTAINS LEAD. MAY BE HARMFUL IF EATEN OR CHEWED’ | |||
Table 1
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