The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has weakened lead standards in children’s products.
Lead levels are currently fixed at a maximum of 100 parts per million. Products containing levels above that are banned under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act. The limit was set by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008.
Regulation changes will now allow products to exceed those limits under select circumstances. Specifically, it must not be practicable or technologically feasible to make the product without surpassing the limits, or if the product is unlikely to be ingested or put in the mouth under normal and reasonably foreseeable use.
The exception is still based on the product demonstrating “no measurable adverse effect on public health,” says the CPSC.