USA: CPSC proposed to amend the standard for the flammability of clothing textiles (16 CFR part 1610)
SEPTEMBER 2022 - SOFTLINES
On 14 September 2022, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) proposed to amend the Standard for the Flammability of Clothing Textiles (16 CFR Part 1610)1.
The proposed revisions include following:
- Updates the burn code (burning characteristics) for raised surface textile fabrics to consolidate redundant codes, eliminate unnecessary and unclear codes, and to improve clarity for flammability classification.
- In the current standard, the ‘stop thread’ is specified as “No. 50, white, mercerized, 100% cotton sewing thread”. The specification “No. 50” is not currently a common or clear method of describing thread, hence in the proposed standard, it changes the specification of stop thread as “3-ply, white, mercerized, 100% cotton sewing thread, with a Tex size of 35 to 45 Tex”.
- Updates the dry cleaning option to include hydrocarbon solvent (commercial grade) as an additional option due to legal restriction on use of perchloroethylene.
- Updates the washing and drying specification that can be met by machines currently in the market. It also incorporates the standard for laundering AATCC LP1–2021 to replace the old standard AATCCTM 124-2006.
The CPSC is seeking for the written or oral comments from interested parties on this notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR).
The deadline for submission of written comments is 14 November 2022. If anyone wants to make an oral presentation, the person must send an email indicating this intent to the Office of the Secretary at [email protected] by 31 October 2022.
[1] Federal Register, Vol. 87, No. 177
