Household Products Containing Hydrocarbons; Notice of Data
Availability and Request for Comments
[Federal Register: April 11, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 70)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 18738-18740]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr11ap01-12]
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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
16 CFR PART 1700
Household Products Containing Hydrocarbons; Notice of Data
Availability and Request for Comments
AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.
ACTION: Notice of data availability and request for comment.
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SUMMARY: In the Federal Register of January 3, 2000, the Consumer
Product Safety Commission (``CPSC'' or ``Commission'') published a
notice of proposed rulemaking (``NPR'') proposing child-resistant
packaging requirements for household chemical and cosmetic products
with viscosity less than 100 Saybolt Universal Seconds (``SUS'')
containing 10 percent or more hydrocarbons. 65 FR 93. Since that time,
CPSC's staff has acquired brand name-specific data on exposure to
possible hydrocarbon-containing cosmetics and has conducted an analysis
of that data as well as an additional analysis of the data available
when the NPR was issued.
This notice makes these staff analyses available for public
comment. Today's notice does not re-open the comment period on the NPR.
DATES: The Commission must receive any comments in response to this
notice by May 11, 2001.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be mailed, preferably in five copies, to the
Office of the Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission,
Washington, DC 20207-0001, or delivered to the Office of the Secretary,
Consumer Product Safety Commission, Room 502, 4330 East-West Highway,
Bethesda, Maryland 20814; telephone (301) 504-0800. Comments also may
be filed by facsimile to (301)504-0127 or by e-mail to cpsc-
os@cpsc.gov. Comments should be captioned ``Notice of Additional
Hydrocarbon Data.''
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Suzanne Barone, Directorate for Health
Sciences, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, DC 20207;
telephone (301) 504-0477, ext. 1196.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Background
The January 3, 2000 NPR presented ingestion data collected by the
American Association of Poison Control Centers'(``AAPCC'') Toxic
Exposure Surveillance System (``TESS'') for general cosmetic categories
that may contain low viscosity hydrocarbons. The categories included:
(1) Miscellaneous nail products; (2) sunscreen and suntan preparations;
(3) bubble bath and bath oil; and (4) creams, lotions, and make-up. The
data presented in the NPR were from the years 1995 through 1997.
A total of 74,042 ingestion incidents were reported in these
product categories. While these incidents were not limited to known
hydrocarbon-containing cosmetics, they demonstrate that children access
the contents of these types of products in the home. Thus, if such
products contain hydrocarbons of low viscosity, aspiration and
therefore serious injury, can result. In addition, the NPR included
1996-1997 AAPCC data for exposures to baby oil, a cosmetic product
known to contain low viscosity mineral oil, which is a hydrocarbon.
An analysis of brand name-specific cosmetic data obtained by CPSC
staff after the NPR was issued is presented below. Data on additional
deaths and the additional CPSC staff analysis of the data available
when the NPR was issued are also presented.
B. Brand-Specific Cosmetic Data
At the December 3, 1999 Commission briefing on the NPR,
Commissioner Gall requested that the staff develop a plan for the
collection and analysis of additional data related to ingestion
incidents involving mineral oil-based cosmetics.\1\ The staff
recommended, and the Commission approved, the purchase of additional
information from the
[[Page 18739]]
AAPCC on ingestion incidents involving mineral oil-based cosmetics.
Permission was obtained from the AAPCC Board of Directors to purchase
brand name data for the year 1998 for four cosmetic categories. Data on
the following product categories were purchased: (1) Miscellaneous nail
products; (2) sunscreen and suntan preparations; (3) bubble bath and
bath oil; and (4) creams, lotions, and make-up.
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\1\ See Statement of Commissioner Mary Sheila Gall on
publication of a notice of proposed rulemaking to require special
packaging for low-viscosity hydrocarbons, December 3, 1999. See
also, Statement of Commissioner Thomas H. Moore on the same subject.
(Copies of these statements are available from the CPSC Office of
the Secretary.)
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A comment was received from the Cosmetic, Toiletry, and Fragrance
Association (CTFA) (CP00-1-6) in response to the NPR requesting the
opportunity to review and comment on the additional cosmetic data
purchased from the AAPCC. These data contain brand names and must
remain proprietary under the terms by which CPSC acquired them from the
AAPCC. Therefore the database cannot be made available to the public.
However, the staff analysis of the data that is summarized in this
notice is available to the public. Copies may be obtained from the
Office of the Secretary. The analysis is also available on the CPSC
world wide web site at: http://www.cpsc.gov/library/foia/foia01/brief/
hydrocar.pdf.
The supplemental AAPCC cosmetic database purchase contained a total
of 31,903 ingestion cases coded as: (1) Miscellaneous nail products;
(2) sunscreen and suntan preparations; (3) bubble bath or bath oil; and
(4) creams, lotions, and make-up. Of these, 538 cases involved
ingestion of more than one substance and were therefore eliminated from
consideration. Of the 31,365 single substance ingestions, 476 involved
potential aspirations as defined below by CPSC staff in Section D.,
Additional Analysis of Data Available when NPR Was Issued. Seventeen of
the aspiration cases involved a serious medical outcome.\2\
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\2\ ``Serious medical outcome'' is defined for purposes of this
analysis as a TESS case with an outcome coded as ``moderate
effect,'' ``major effect,'' death, or ``not followed up-potentially
toxic.''
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CPSC staff eliminated 2,049 products (22,262 exposures) from
further consideration because either the products were known not to
contain hydrocarbons or the formulations were emulsions or solids. Of
the remainder, 30 products (1,461 exposures) would require child-
resistant packaging under the proposed rule. Staff lacked sufficient
information to make that determination for 222 products (7,642
exposures). Some of these were from a specific cosmetic product
category such as ``bath oil,'' some members of which may require
packaging under the rule as proposed, but were products for which a
brand name was not available. The remaining ones were products for
which no formulation information was available.
The staff evaluated the combined data set of cases that were either
known to be or might be subject to the rule as proposed. The two
parameters evaluated were potential aspiration and serious injury. Five
potential aspiration cases were identified in this manner as having
serious medical outcomes. Three of these cases involved baby oil and
two involved bath oil. There were 224 additional cases coded as
potential aspirations that did not result in serious effects. Seventy-
nine cases resulted in serious outcomes but did not meet the staff
criteria for potential aspiration.
C. Additional Deaths
Seven fatalities were identified in categories of products known to
contain hydrocarbons. Five of these deaths were not reported in the NPR
or the preceding advance notice of proposed rulemaking (``ANPR''). 62
FR 8,659 (February 26, 1997). Of these, three deaths were identified in
TESS that were caused by products that appear not to be subject to the
rule. The first case was the death of a child following ingestion and
aspiration of a homemade cleaning product. The second case was the
death of a child following ingestion and aspiration of motor oil. The
third TESS case was the death of a child following ingestion and
aspiration of hair oil. The products involved in these three deaths
either contain less than 10 percent hydrocarbons or have a viscosity
greater than 100 SUS at 100 deg. F.
The other two deaths that were identified in CPSC databases were
apparently caused by products that would be subject to the rule as
proposed. The first death occurred in 1997 when a 12-month female died
45 days following ingestion of baby oil. The autopsy revealed that the
child died as a result of a left hemothorax due to complications from
swallowing and aspirating baby oil.
The second death occurred in 2000 when a 9-month old female died
six days following the ingestion of a hair moisturizer product. The
patient suffered respiratory arrest and died in the intensive care
unit.
D. Additional Analysis of Data Available When NPR Was Issued
Commissioner Gall's specific interest in cases involving mineral
oil-based cosmetics also prompted a reevaluation by CPSC staff of the
data available at the NPR stage with a focus on aspiration. The data
presented in the NPR contained 114 cases of cosmetic exposure coded as
aspirations by the AAPCC for the years 1995, 1996, and 1997 (29, 36,
and 49 respectively).
TESS codes identify the routes of exposure for poisoning cases.
These route codes include, ``ingestion,'' ``aspiration,'' ``inhalation/
nasal,'' ``ocular,'' ``dermal,'' ``bite/sting,'' or ``parenteral.'' The
74,042 incidents identified in the NPR were ingestions that did not
also involve other routes of exposure. However, according to AAPCC
coding guidelines, all cases coded as aspiration are also coded as
ingestions.
Upon reevaluation, the CPSC staff believed that using only
incidents coded with the aspiration route of exposure was
underestimating the number of aspiration incidents. Numerous cases not
coded as aspirations resulted in respiratory effects. Therefore, in
addition to any case coded as an aspiration by the AAPCC, any
inhalation or nasal route of exposure case, and any ingestion case that
also had related respiratory effects, was considered by the CPSC staff
to be a potential aspiration. Many of these cases are not coded as
aspiration cases by the AAPCC. For example, a case of aspiration of
hydrocarbon following vomiting may not be coded as an aspiration by the
AAPCC because the initial route of exposure may have been ingestion.
However, if the child exhibits respiratory effects related to the
poisoning, the case would be considered an ``aspiration'' for purposes
of this analysis.
The CPSC staff reanalyzed the TESS data originally presented in the
NPR to take into account the additional cases of potential aspiration.
In addition, several other changes were made. The analysis was expanded
to include cases involving all routes of exposure. However, cases
involving more than one product and cases where the age of the child
was unknown were eliminated.
Reanalysis of the TESS cosmetic data in this manner resulted in
1200 cases of potential aspiration for the years 1995-1997 as opposed
to the 114 cases identified in the NPR.
The TESS cosmetic data for the years 1993 through 1999 show 186,359
exposures with 2,894 potential aspirations. The TESS data also show
109,823 exposures to household chemical product categories that may
contain hydrocarbons, 8,221 of which were potential aspirations.
The detailed staff reanalysis of these data is available to the
public. Copies may be obtained from the Office of the Secretary. The
reanalysis is also available on the CPSC world wide web
[[Page 18740]]
site at: http://www.cpsc.gov/library/foia/foia01/brief/hydrocar.pdf.
Dated: April 6, 2001.
Todd A. Stevenson,
Acting Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 01-8955 Filed 4-10-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P