The Council of Washington D.C. has announced that “Carcinogenic Flame Retardant Prohibition Amendment Act of 2016” is now an official law numbered L21-0108. This action takes place after the Mayor’s approval in March this year and pre-enactment review by the Congress. All the provisions in the act shall be enforced accordingly.

When the law is enforced, children’s products and residential upholstered furniture manufactured, distributed or sold in the state shall not contain product components with more than 1000 ppm of any of the following flame retardants:

1. After January 1, 2018, no person or legal entity shall manufacture, sell, offer for sale, or distribute any children’s product or residential upholstered furniture containing more than 0.1% by mass in any product component of the following TDCPP &TCEP;
2. After January 1, 2019, no person or legal entity shall manufacture, sell, offer for sale, or distribute any product containing more than 0.1 % by mass in any product component of the following TDCPP &TCEP.

The above restrictions shall not apply to:

1. The sale, offer for sale, or distribution of a product by a retailer who purchased or acquired the product before the law becomes effective;
2. Any activity involving a product that occurs subsequent to the first sale at retail;
3. Motor vehicles or replacement parts or replacement equipment for motor vehicles;
4. Commercial or residential building insulation or wiring that otherwise complies with the Construction Codes Supplement, set forth in Title 12 of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations;
5. Desktop and laptop computers, audio and video equipment, calculators, wireless telephones, game consoles, handheld devices incorporating a screen that are used to access interactive software and their associated peripherals, and cables, adaptors, and other similar connecting devices; or
6. Storage media, such as compact discs, for interactive software, such as computer games.

“Children’s product” means a consumer product:

• Marketed for use by children under 12 years of age; or
• The substantial use of which by a child under 12 years of age is reasonably foreseeable.

"Residential upholstered furniture" means:

• Furniture intended for use in a home or other dwelling that includes cushioning material covered by fabric or similar material.

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