SGS : Canada Publishes Guideline for Trace Amounts of Asbestos in Consumer Products

Canada has published guidance to assist the consumer products industry to comply with asbestos in consumer products regulations. The guideline provides information on 'trace amounts of asbestos' and suitable analytical methods.

SAFEGUARDS | Consumer Products NO. 007/19

In October 2018, Canada published 'Prohibition of Asbestos and Products Containing Asbestos Regulations (SOR/2018-196, 'the Regulations')' to amend its Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA, 1999). That piece of legislation regulates, inter alia, consumer products containing asbestos in greater than trace amounts. The new law became effective on December 30, 2018 (Safeguard 142/18 [1]).

According to the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement in 'the Regulations', guidance material will be made available to assist the consumer products industry on the prohibition of naturally occurring asbestos greater than trace quantities in consumer products.

The published guideline, available on the Government of Canada website [2], provides important information for stakeholders to comply with the manufacture, import, sale and use of consumer products containing asbestos in greater than trace amounts under sections 4(c) and 5(b) of 'the Regulations'. This includes the following:

• Providing a definition for asbestos and the six minerals involved
• Providing information for trace quantities
• Providing information for suitable standard analytical methods for measurement

Highlights of 'the Regulations' on the prohibition of consumer products containing asbestos in greater than trace amounts and the accompanying guideline are summarized in Table 1.

Prohibition of Asbestos and Products Containing Asbestos Regulations (SOR/2018-196) Sections 4(c) and 5(b)
Substance	Scope	Requirement	Effective Date
Asbestos: Actinolite, anthophyllite, amosite, chrysotile, crocidolite and tremolite	Consumer products	Prohibited if above trace amounts*	December 30, 2018
*< 0.1% using a suitable standard analytical method such as EPA 600/R-93/116, NIOSH 9002 and ISO 22262

Table 1

Stakeholders are advised to comply with the latest requirements for asbestos in consumer products for the Canadian market.

SGS is committed to providing information about development in regulations for consumer products as complimentary services. Through a global network of laboratories, SGS provides a wide range of services including physical/mechanical testing, analytical testing and consultancy work for technical and non-technical parameters applicable to a comprehensive range of consumer products. Please do not hesitate to contact us for further information.

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