Emergency Services
The Duke Toxicology Program provides a 24-hour toxicological information service for emergency rooms, medical personnel, and poison control centers if additional information is required beyond what is available through the POISINDEX® System.
On behalf of Art and Creative Materials Institute (ACMI) members, the Duke Toxicology Program provides generic formula information to ensure the requirement of registering with a poison control network has been met. On a quarterly basis, ACMI supplies to Micromedex a complete list of all certified non-toxic products which carry the AP seal, including brand names and certification status.
About POISINDEX®
Part of IBM Watson Health™, the POISINDEX® System is a trusted, evidence-based resource to help identify, manage, and treat toxicological exposures.
Labeling for Arts Materials
The Duke Toxicology Program provides toxicological evaluations of art and crafts materials as defined by the Federal Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials Act (LHAMA) and the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA), both administered by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Such evaluations are conducted in conformance with the American Society of Testing and Materials Practice D-4236, "Labeling of Art Materials for Chronic Health Hazards," and are directed toward compliance with the promulgated product labeling requirements. The assessment of potential hazard includes both acute and chronic effects of the product and is based upon evaluation of individual ingredients, their level of use and possible interactions. This assessment, and any resultant labeling, are required for art materials to be sold and imported into the United States.
The Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials Act (Public Law 100-695), which went into effect on November 18, 1990, amends the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA) to require art and craft materials manufacturers to evaluate their products for their ability to cause chronic illness, and to place labels on those that do. FHSA already required manufacturers to evaluate and label for acute hazards.
The law enacts ASTM D-4236, a standard for evaluating chronic hazards already in use by 85 to 90 percent of the art and craft materials manufacturers before the law went into effect, and provides for enacting any future revisions to the standard. The law requires the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to develop guidelines for evaluation criteria for toxicologists to use under ASTM D-4236 and to develop and distribute educational information about art materials. The law requires a statement on the label of a product with a chronic hazard potential that the product is inappropriate for use by children and permits CPSC to enjoin the purchase of such an art material for use in grades pre-K through 6.
Additionally, CPSC has required that an appropriate telephone number (in most cases, that of the manufacturer) be printed on all products that have a chronic hazard warning and a conformance statement to ASTM D-4236 on all products. CPSC also requires that products with a chronic hazard meet the same typeface size and placement requirements under FHSA as those required for acute hazard warnings.
Other Art Material Services
The Duke Toxicology Program also reviews art and craft materials for compliance against California’s Proposition 65, Canada’s Consumer Chemicals and Containers Regulations, 2001, and the European Union Toy Safety Directive including the Biocide Directive, and the applicable EN 71 standards.
For information regarding Duke OEM Toxicology Prop 65 review services, please contact Caroline Davis Rourk at caroline.rourk@duke.edu or (919) 681-6535.