The Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse (TPCH)
sent letters in mid-2006 to six beverage distributors asking them to confirm
compliance with the group's model packaging law that bans the intentional
addition of four metals, including lead and cadmium, to packaging.
The Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse (TPCH) sent letters
in mid-2006 to six beverage distributors asking them to confirm compliance with
the group's model packaging law that bans the intentional addition of four
metals, including lead and cadmium, to packaging. Letters to these distributors
asked each company to demonstrate compliance with the Toxicity Characteristic
Leaching Procedure (TCLP) test for the glass bottles in question, or to claim
the recycled content exemption from the model bill. The distributors were
identified after TPCH conducted an aggressive screening program to sample
compliance with state packaging laws.
TPCH conducted its screening effort using a portable
Niton XRF spectroscope to detect the presence of the listed metals in states
that have enacted the model legislation. A number of glass containers were
sampled, along with a wide variety of other packaging materials.
To qualify for the model exemption, a glass or ceramic
package producer must demonstrate that its ware would pass a TCLP test after
preparing a sample using the ASTM C1606-04 method developed by the Society of
Glass and Ceramic Decorators (SGCD). TCLP results must not exceed 1.0 ppm for
cadmium, 5.0 ppm for lead and 5.0 ppm for hexavalent chromium. Companies
responding to TPCH generally claimed either the recycled materials exemption or
provided TCLP with test results to claim the decorated glass exemption.
A glass exemption has been formally adopted by only three
of the 19 states that have enacted the TPCH model legislation (often referred
to as CONEG legislation). The full exemption is on the books in California, and
partial exemptions were enacted in Illinois and Missouri. It is anticipated
that TPCH will conduct another screening effort in 2007 to further its
compliance efforts. For more details, contact Andy Bopp at (703) 838-2810.
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