Existing law prohibits a person from manufacturing, selling, or exchanging, having in his or her possession with intent to sell or exchange, or expose or offer for sale or exchange to any retailer, any toy that, among other things, is coated with paints or lacquers containing compounds of lead of which the lead content is in excess of prescribed federal standards for lead, or soluble compounds of antimony, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, selenium, or barium, as specified. Existing law makes a violation of that prohibition a misdemeanor.
This bill would, in addition, beginning January 1, 2012, prohibit a person, firm, or corporation from manufacturing, selling, or exchanging, having in his or her possession with intent to sell or exchange, or expose or offer for sale or exchange to any retailer, any toy or child care
article, as defined, or any other product designed or intended for use by, or for the care of, a child 12 years of age or younger, that is determined to be a lead-bearing substance, as defined, is coated with a lead-bearing substance, or includes a component that is determined to be a lead-bearing substance. The bill would specify that it would not supersede any more stringent prohibition that would otherwise be applicable under state or federal law. The bill would exempt from its prohibitions a component part of a children’s product that is not accessible to a child through normal and foreseeable use and abuse of the product. The bill would also exempt electronic products and electronic product components that comply with a specified directive adopted by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union.