Consumer Product Agency Must Fix Phthalates Rule, 5th Cir. Says

The Consumer Product Safety Commission made two procedural errors in creating a final rule that set sharp limits on five plastic components in children’s toys and must now take steps to correct the problems, the Fifth Circuit ruled Monday.

First, the CPSC didn’t give the public, including chemical companies, an adequate opportunity to comment on a changed statistical approach to data on phthalate exposure when it was finalizing the rule, Chief Judge Priscilla R. Owen said for the appeals court.

Second, it must consider the costs of a continued ban on toys that contain more than 0.1% of one of ...