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From Home Furnishing Business
CPSC Ends Third-Party Testing for Engineered Wood Products Under CPSIA
June 29,
2018 by Jason Schneider in Business Strategy, Industry, Legal 
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a final rule on June 22 determining that untreated and unfinished engineered wood products (particleboard, hardwood plywood, and medium-density fiberboard) do not contain lead and, therefore, are not required to have third-party testing for compliance with the lead content requirements for children’s products under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA).
The American Home Furnishings Alliance advocated strongly before the agency on this issue for several years, although CPSC last accepted official comments in 2014. At that time, AHFA submitted details on the entire manufacturing process for composite wood products, emphasizing the absence of lead as an intentional or even unintentional element in that process.
The Friday, June 22, action by the commission effectively ends the lead testing requirement under CPSIA for particleboard, medium density fiberboard, and hardwood plywood.
Section 101 of the CPSIA set lead limits for the substrate of any accessible part of a children’s product, as well as for the paint that coats a children’s product or household furniture. It forced the furniture industry to institute a cumbersome and expensive process of lead testing for composite wood used in the manufacture of children’s furniture. While CPSC acknowledged in the rule that wood does not contain lead, it did not make the same determination for the resin used in composite wood products.
In its advocacy on this issue, AHFA provided data to CPSC demonstrating that lead is neither contained in nor added to composite wood products at any point in the manufacturing process. AHFA maintained that testing for lead is unnecessary and does nothing to advance safety or reduce consumer exposure.
After more than four years, the commissioners finally agreed in Friday’s 4-0 decision. The CPSC’s ruling can be reviewed in its entirety in the Federal Register.