CPSC Revises Its Cadmium Standard

Following incidents of children's toys and jewelry being made with the toxic metal cadmium, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has come out with a new exposure standard and recommendations for cadmium testing in products. The revised standard would set a child's daily intake levels for cadmium at 0.1 μg per kg per day and 11 μg per kg per day for acute exposures. The consumer agency also called for the standards organization ASTM International to revise its test for cadmium in metal alloys from a two-hour solubility test to one done over 24 hours. The CPSC recommendations come less than two months after EPA said it would seek data from manufacturers on cadmium in consumer products and would regulate the metal if CPSC did not act (C&EN, Sept. 6, page 46). Long-term exposure to cadmium is linked to a number of diseases and can have adverse effects on several organs including the kidneys, liver, and bone, CPSC says.