Know what is in your environment

February 25, 2010

One Small Business Rises to the Challenge; Creating Jobs, and Stimulating Small Business

Filed under: About the business, News, Regulation, Technology, viewpoint — Tags: , , , , , , — Seth Goldberg @ 11:55 am

If i ran the government – Permit XRF screening with the CPSIA

The current administration has challenged businesses across the country to help create new jobs.  Environmental Services & Solutions Corporation (Essco Safety Check), a Redmond, WA based company steps up to the government’s challenge by:

• Proposing the creation of thousands of jobs. 
• Helping to stimulate business; especially small businesses impacted by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA).

The CPSIA (Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act) is a law that regulates the amount of lead and other harmful toxicants in children’s products.  There are approximately 700,000[1] manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and retailers that are impacted by this current legislation; approximately 40%[2]of these businesses have 0-4 employees working for them.

Currently, XRF testing is not a government approved testing method.  Current approved testing methods are destructive in nature; which means the tested product must be destroyed during the testing procedure.  This method of testing is very costly and the test results could take weeks to obtain.  In addition, products can only be tested by a select group of government approved testing laboratories worldwide.

XRF testing equipment is completely portable; it can be easily transported to the testing site.  Testing using XRF is non-destructive, low-cost, fast and an accurate way to determine if elements (including those regulated by the CPSIA) are present or not present in virtually anything.  If XRF technology becomes a government approved screening process, it is estimated that thousands of jobs could be created nationally.  These jobs include certified consumer product inspectors, support staff and office positions.

A direct result of XRF screening is to prevent potentially harmful products from reaching the retailer’s shelves and eventually the homes of consumers. 

By utilizing XRF analyzers to screen consumer products, businesses could save money on government mandated testing expenses and be able to get products to market faster.  For example, traditional testing is destructive in nature, very expensive and time consuming; it costs, on average, $100 per test (each product may need 5 tests) and can take weeks for results.  XRF testing costs on average $2 to $7 per test and usually provides results within 48-hours.

Hypothesis:  If XRF Analyzers and technology are approved for screening heavy metals in children’s products and with a conservative estimate of 5 million products that need to be tested with an average of 5 tests per item, over $3.7[3] billion dollars can be saved.  However, research has suggested that there are literally tens of millions of products that are potentially impacted by the CPSIA regulation and, with that number in mind, there could be savings in the tens of billions of dollars for business all while creating thousands of jobs.

ESSCO-Safety Check proposes that by using XRF technology:
• Thousands of jobs can be created.
• Businesses will be in compliance with CPSIA regulations.
• Mandatory testing expenses are reduced for business.
• Products get to market faster.

It’s a win-win situation for consumers, the environment and business.
www.essco-safetycheck.com

[1] www.naics.com North American Industrial Classification System
[2] www.census.gov  U.S. Census Bureau
[3] http://handmadetoyalliance.blogspot.com/2010/02/allowing-xrf-testing-for-cpsia.html Handmade Toy Alliance Blog – Cross Post from Essco Safety Check

February 12, 2010

Cadmium found in jewelry and other consumer products

Filed under: About the business, News, Technology — Tags: , , , , , , , — Seth Goldberg @ 10:49 am

Last month, an investigation by the Associated Press found alarming high amounts of cadmium in children’s jewelry.  This investigation lead to a recall of children’s jewelry and further investigation by the Associated Press has found cadmium in adult jewelry as well.

Considering that data that we have collected for over two years assisted with the initial investigation with the AP reporter, I thought I would look further into the data about cadmium and share this information. 

The information is only about consumer products and was collected by using X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyzers to look for a variety of heavy metals by using X-Rays to determine if elements are present or not present in virtually anything.  Over 8000 test results have been compiled.

The data present in this article is looking at a total content for cadmium found at 40 Parts Per Million (PPM) or greater.  In 2008, Washington State passed the Children’s Safety Product Act (CSPA) which regulated lead and cadmium in total content (Lead at 90 PPM and Cadmium at 40 PPM) which are stricter standards than were established by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA).  Considering that total content of cadmium is not part of the federal regulation, and my company is based in Washington State, I have decided to use that number as my standard for this data.

My desire is not to scare anyone with this information; I am just trying to provide some awareness.  Just because we find some harmful metals in everyday items does not mean that they are going to harm you, however, they are present and that means there is a potential for harm.  With knowledge and awareness you can mitigate harm.

XRF analyzers provide awareness, fast, efficiently, accurately, non-destructively and very economically.

During our testing we have found cadmium and lead in a variety of different substrates including; metal jewelry (necklaces, rings, pins and pendants), glass, plastics, ceramics (cups, plates and bowls), cooking equipment, furniture, toys, handbags and even personal care items.

In total we have found 3.64% of all items tested appear to have cadmium.

Age of the item also appears to make some difference.  In items that were brand new, we have found 2.75% of these items to have cadmium, yet used “older” items have approximately 4.88% cadmium.

Children’s products in general have less cadmium than the average with 2.63% found with cadmium.

Of all substrates tested the three with the highest percentages of items found with cadmium are ceramics, metals and glass. 

Ceramics are typical items found in the kitchen environment; coffee cups, plates, dishes, cooking equipment and the like.  Of all ceramics tested we have found cadmium in 12.03% of these items. 

Metal substrates refer mostly to jewelry, but some metals found with cadmium include pots and pans.  Of all metals tested we have found cadmium in 9.09% of these items.  However, two points standout when the data is further evaluated concerning metal.  The levels of cadmium found in these items appear to be much greater than other substrates and when we breakdown the results by age, children’s products appear to have a slightly higher average then overall metals.  I have seen cadmium over 10% in many of these items.

Glass is typically found in two types of products, jewelry (beads) and kitchen items.  Although we find that glass as a substrate appears to have the most overall percentages found with cadmium of any one substrate, these levels appear to be much lower than jewelry.  Overall, with glass substrates tested we have found 30.68% to contain cadmium.

Once again, I just wish to provide awareness, my goal is not to scare you!

Please don’t go run to your kitchen and throw away your dishes and coffee cups.  With ceramics, the most important thing is the condition of the glaze.  If the glaze appears to be in good condition with no cracks, chips, blemishes, than you really shouldn’t worry.

This was just a snap shot of cadmium found in the typical home, with typical consumer products, using XRF analyzers.

If you know what is in your environment, you can mitigate harm.

February 10, 2010

What small businesses are telling me will happen if XRF is not approved for testing and compliance with the CPSIA

Filed under: About the business, viewpoint — Seth Goldberg @ 11:45 am

Owning an environmental technology company (Essco – Safety Check) and providing XRF testing services to businesses has provided me with some very valuable insight into what may happen to small businesses impacted by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) when the stay of enforcement is lifted on 2/10/11.

The CPSIA is a law that regulates the amount of lead and other harmful toxicants in children’s products.  There are approximately 700,000 manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and retailers that are impacted by this law and approximately 40% of these businesses have 0-4 employees working for them.  Current approved testing methods are destructive in nature, very costly and time consuming from only a select group of laboratories worldwide.  XRF is a mobile, non-destructive, low-cost, fast and accurate way to determine if elements (including those regulated by the CPSIA) are present or not present in virtually anything. 

In over two years of business operations I hear the same four scenarios over and over from small business owners who are impacted by the CPSIA.

1. They will try and test using approved testing methods to the best of their ability.  However with the cost of this destructive testing method, they will have to reduce the number of products that they make because they can’t afford to pay for all the required testing.
2. They are going to wing it and get as much information from the manufacture/supplier of the components that they use; they can’t afford to do any testing.
3. They are not going to test at all; too expensive
4. They are going to use XRF as their “reasonable testing” method and use the results to be in compliance and create the GCC (General Certificate of Conformity) regardless of the laws.

How is the CPSIA impacting you and your decisions about the products you manufacture or purchase?

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