U.S. – CPSC Approves Safety Standard for Magnet Sets
Vol. 792 | October 31, 2014
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has approved a new federal safety standard for high-powered magnet sets and individual magnets marketed or intended for use as part of a magnet set. The new rule, 16 CFR 1240, is intended to reduce the risk of injuries to consumers by ingestion of magnets that are either sold individually or as part of magnet sets.
Magnetic sets regulated by this rule are defined under 16 CFR 1240.2 as:
“any aggregation of separable magnetic objects that is a consumer product intended, marketed or commonly used as a manipulative or construction item for entertainment, such as puzzle working, sculpture building, mental stimulation, or stress relief. Relevant factors in determining intended uses of a magnet set include, but are not limited to: the manufacturer’s stated intent (such as on a label or website), if reasonable under the circumstances; the content and nature of advertising, promotion, marketing, packaging, or display relating to the product; and the uses for which the product is commonly recognized by consumers.”
Per the new safety standard no individual magnet shall be small enough to fit within the small parts cylinder specified in 16 CFR 1501. If the magnets in a magnet set or the individual magnets are small parts, they shall not have a magnetic flux index greater than 50 kG2mm2 when tested per the ASTM F963-11 Toy Safety Standard.
Some significant features of this rule:
- This rule, 16 CFR 1240, covers all consumer products, not just children’s products.
- Magnets that are part of toys are covered by the Toy Safety Standard, ASTM F963-11, and are not within the scope of this rule.
- Other magnets not covered by this rule include those used in jewelry, loudspeakers, headphones, microphones, magnetic couplings, disc drives, magnetic bearings, switches and relays.
- Third party testing of magnet sets and individual magnets defined under 16 CFR 1240 are not required, however certification to this rule is required.
16 CFR 1240, CPSC Safety Standard for Magnet Sets is applicable to all magnet sets and individual magnets (as defined under 16 CFR 1240.2), manufactured or imported after April 1, 2015.
The Final Rule can be viewed at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-10-03/pdf/2014-23341.pdf
For questions, please contact Laxmi Ravikumar (laxmi.ravikumar@intertek.com, 630-209-9265) or Pratik Ichhaporia (pratik.ichhaporia@intertek.com, 312-906-7720).