In the News

California's Toxics in Packaging Exemptions Expire This Month

Jan 5, 2010

Certain exemptions allowed under California's Toxics in Packaging Prevention Act expired on January 1, 2010. The law, which became effective in 2006, bans selling or promoting packaging that contains lead, cadmium, mercury, or hexavalent chromium if they have been intentionally introduced during manufacture or distribution. The law also restricts the incidental total concentration of the regulated metals present in a package component to less than 100 parts per million (ppm) by weight. (For background information on the law, see the PackagingLaw.com article, Toxics in Packaging Legislation at the State Level.)

Packaging that was exempt from the law, and will now be covered includes recycled materials, reused packaging, controlled distribution, and vitrified labels on glass or ceramic packaging. Certain exemptions to the law continue after January 1, 2010, namely packages manufactured prior to January 1, 2006, if they are marked with a code indicating that the date of manufacture was prior to January 1, 2006, and packages where there are no feasible alternatives to the regulated metals.

The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), which is charged with enforcing the requirements of the law, published a fact sheet in December 2009 for manufacturers and suppliers of packages that explains the changes in the law, titled, Toxics in Packaging Prevention Act Exemptions Expiring January 1, 2010.