Canada has taken a number of actions since the beginning of the year aimed at enhancing the safety of imported and domestically-produced consumer products. The most recent initiatives involve separate proposals to reduce the lead content limits in consumer products and prohibit the use of six phthalates in soft vinyl children's products and childcare articles.
Health Canada is proposing to reduce the lead content in certain products from 600 to 90 milligrams of lead per kilogram of product, which is equivalent to a lead concentration of 0.009 percent. These products include (1) products, other than kitchen utensils, that are brought into contact with the user's mouth in the course of normal use, and (2) products in respect of which it is reasonably foreseeable, based on their nature, that they would be brought into contact with the mouth of children under three years of age in the course of learning or play. Canadian authorities would have the authority to prevent the import, advertisement or sale of non-compliant products in Canada and allow for quick remedial action if an affected product is found in the marketplace. A Health Canada press release states that the proposed lead limit would ensure that maximum daily intake of lead from covered consumer products would not exceed the provisional tolerable daily intake for infants and children set by the World Health Organisation, which is 3.57 micrograms of lead per kilogram of body weight per day.
Health Canada is also proposing to harmonise Canadian requirements for phthalates in soft vinyl children's products and childcare articles with those of the United States and the European Union. Specifically, the proposal would ban the sale of all vinyl children's toys and childcare articles containing di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP) or benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP) in concentrations exceeding 1,000 mg/kg. In addition, the sale of vinyl children's toys and childcare articles that can, in a reasonably foreseeable manner, be placed in the mouth of a child under four years of age would be banned if they contain diisononyl phthalate (DINP), diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP) or di-n-octyl phthalate (DnOP) in concentrations exceeding 1,000 mg/kg. The term "children's toy" is defined in the regulations as "products that are intended for use by a child of any age in learning or play," while "childcare articles" are defined as "products that are intended to facilitate the relaxation, sleep, hygiene, feeding, sucking or teething or a child under four years of age." A product or part of a product containing vinyl would be considered capable of being placed in the mouth of a child if it can be brought to the child's mouth and kept there so that it can be sucked or chewed and if one of its dimensions is less than five centimetres.
Interested parties may submit comments on these proposals by 3 September.
