Lead standards tighten
Manufacturers say they're prepared
Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, December 21, 2008
HIGH POINT — Manufacturers and importers of youth and adult furniture say they are preparing, or are already set, to meet increased lead paint safety standards to be required by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
The current limit is 600 parts per million for lead used in paint and wood finishes applied to furniture made for use by children 12 and under.
Third-party testing and certification is required on youth products made after Dec. 21, 2008, according to the CPSC, which is toughening its enforcement of the standard.
Paint and wood finishes will have to meet a much stricter standard of 90 parts per million by Aug. 14, 2009. Again, third-party testing will be required.
Items covered include, but are not limited to, beds, bookcases, chairs, chests, tables, dressers, desks, television consoles and sofas.
While the rule applies to youth products, the CPSC encourages companies to apply the same standard to products for adult use. But the agency won't require testing of adult products and for that reason, most companies will likely just test the youth furniture.
“Any time you can minimize the lead percentage on any piece at any time, that kind of care and caution should be taken,” said Julie Vallese, a CPSC spokesperson. “If manufacturers have an option, why not choose the lead-free option?”
The law also applies to furniture components that contain lead, Vallese said.
In large part, the stricter standards stem from investigations that found high amounts of lead in children's toys imported from China.
Several importers of youth and adult furniture contacted by Furniture/Today said they were aware of the lead rules and were dealing with them.
Hooker Furniture already is at the 90 parts per million standard at all its source factories, said Barney Peach, the company's vice president of Asian operations. Hooker is applying the standard to all of its wood products, not just youth, partly to be on the safe side of any legal interpretations.
Peach said the company's source factories use U.S.-based finishing suppliers Valspar and Akzo Nobel Coatings.
Youth manufacturer and importer Lea Inds. and case goods importer American Drew, both La-Z-Boy companies, also deal with U.S. finishing suppliers and say they are meeting the standard for youth and adult furniture.
“We have been working hard to make sure we meet these compliance dates and get through the learning curve to make sure we have the certificates of conformity available,” said Earl Wang, vice president of product development. “We will do what is required to be compliant with the CPSC.”
Stanley Furniture, which manufactures youth and adult furniture, said both product lines already meet or exceed the CPSC standards. Stanley also adheres to guidelines from the American Society for Testing and Materials, which typically become CPSC standards, the company said.
At youth, dining and accent furniture importer Powell Co., Sean Slack, executive vice president of merchandising and marketing, said the company has achieved a lead paint standard of 500 parts per million for more than 10 years and has been at 90 ppm on youth for the past three years. In July, it applied the 90 ppm standard to all its products.
“After last year with all the horror stories involving lead paint, we figured it was better to be safe than sorry,” Slack said. “We always try to push ourselves ahead of industry standards.”
More information on the new standards is available online at www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsialead.html. A list of CPSC-accredited third-party testing labs around the world is at www.cpsc.gov/cgi-bin/labapplist.aspx.
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